More Than That
by irish-surf-chick
Summary: Post Seasons 4 fic & Season 5 spoiler! Lorelai and Luke start their relationship, but what happens when Christopher returns? Can Luke & Lorelai deal with all the things thrown in their way?. Please read and review )
1. Beginnings

**CHAPTER 1 – Beginnings**

flashback

"He was my boyfriend first!" Rory shouted. "But you dumped him, you rejected him, you picked someone else" Lorelai said. "Stop it! I hate you for ruining this for me!" Rory shouted as she put on her coat and walked outside, slamming the door as she went.

end flashback

Lorelai stood there stunned as she watched Rory walk out on her, how could she say that to her? I know that she's hurting right now and this was a massive step for anyone, especially for Rory. Lorelai had so many thoughts running through her head, anger, confusion and hurt. How could such a perfect day to begin with turn out to be so awful? Her parents, Jason and now the one person in her life she thought she could always count on for anything had just told her she hated her. Lorelai could feel her eyes welling up but decided to go out and at least try to get Rory to talk about this. Lorelai walked out to the porch to see Rory sitting on the step crying, she wanted to go up and hug her and tell her everything would be fine but she honestly didn't know if it would be, this was a huge mistake she had made. She had slept with her married ex boyfriend!

"Hon lets talk about this okay, I hate seeing you upset like this no matter how much I disagree with what you did" Lorelai said.

"Mom I really don't wanna talk about this right now" Rory snapped

"Well what are you gonna do Rory? This won't just go away no matter how much you want it to"

Lorelai said a bit stronger than she had meant to.

"I don't know, I've been so lonely lately and I know you are here when I need you but I wanted something more and I missed Dean and he loves me... I just wanted to be with him again the way we used to be, well not exactly the way we used to be but he was so nice and sweet and treated me so well... I can't make you understand"

"I wish you had talked to me about it, I didn't even know you two were still friends" Lorelai said, she knew they talked occasionally but not that they had become life long friends.

"I'm so sorry" Rory said through her tears as she sat and sobbed. "I don't know what I'm going to do".

"Let's go inside hon" Lorelai said as she felt her own eyes start to well up with tears.

"No, I need to be alone, please, you just go back to the Inn" Rory said looking at her pleadingly.

"Ror, I can't just leave you here this upset"

"I really want to be alone Mom please I'm so sorry about everything, I still can't believe it but please just go to the Inn and we can talk in the morning"

Lorelai sighed heavily "Ok if that's what you need, but you call me if you need anything". She was upset that Rory was so upset and hadn't spoken to her about her problems but she thought she needed some time to herself anyway.

"Thanks Mom and I'm so so sorry" she sobbed.

"Ok hon we'll talk about it tomorrow, night" she said as she hugged Rory and kissed her on the head before she got up and got her stuff.

"Go inside and keep warm" Lorelai said to her before she left, it broke her heart to see Rory this upset but she was still angry with her over what had happened, but it still took all her willpower to turn and walk away leaving her on the porch crying.

* * *

A shocked Lorelai made her way back to the inn. She was confused about everything that had happened, still trying to get her head round it all. When she reached the Inn someone was waiting for her, and it wasn't who she wanted there. "Jason, why are you still here?" Lorelai asked pointedly. "I said I would wait here until we talked and got this mess sorted and as yet we haven't so..." Jason said. "Look Jason I have tried to put it nicely but you obviously don't seem to be getting my drift, so here it goes... I don't want to get back together with you... ever, so would you please just leave already" she shouted. She hadn't meant to be so loud but she had too much else to deal with without Jason being here. "Look Lorelai I know that you are angry at me for everything that happened with your dad but can we not get past that, we were great together, I really want us to be together Lorelai c'mon don't stop us being together because you're stubborn, I know you feel it too!".

Lorelai stood there as she felt her anger rising at what Jason had just said, how could he be so stupid and think she wanted to get back together with him? She had moved on to bigger and better things, in a familiar form of Luke actually. 'Wow', she thought remembering back to the kiss at the front door of the Inn, she had never expected that or she might not have waited so long to kiss him, she smiled inwardly just thinking about it. This thought seemed to calm her a tiny bit, but definatley not enough that she wasn't annoyed at Jason's comments, arrogant much? She thought.

"Ha-ha" she laughed sarcastically, "You seriously believe that I want to get back together with you, listen Jason, I would rather go and live with Emily Gilmore for the rest of my life than get back together with you, which as you know is a pretty clear indication that I would live in hell before I would even entertain the idea of getting back together with you. I have moved on and you have to accept that, stop acting like a spoilt kid who doesn't get the toy he wants" she shouted. She had no patience right now and was still in a state of shock after everything with Rory.

"Lorelai you know me and you know I always get what I want, I want you and I will get you even if it takes time. Just name a time and a place where we can talk about this maybe with an ounce of civility" Jason said with annoyance in his voice.

"O well I'll tell you what time then, how about when the big hand gets to NEV and the little hand gets to ER - that would be dandy" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

* * *

Luke who had just managed to calm Kirk down and get him in his room had been walking down the stairs, he wanted to find Lorelai and maybe see what was going on with them. He suddenly heard shouts from both Lorelai and a male voice who he soon recognised to be Jason's, he knew what Lorelai sounded like when she got mad, remembering back to the fight they had had after the car accident involving Jess and Rory.

_"Lorelai you know me and you know I always get what I want, I want you and I will get you even if it takes time. Just name a time and a place where we can talk about this maybe with an ounce of civility"._

Where does this guy get off talking to her like that Luke thought. However knowing Lorelai he didn't think she would let him talk to her that way either and sure enough...

_"You seriously believe that I want to get back together with you, listen Jason, I would rather go and live with Emily Gilmore for the rest of my life than get back together with you, which as you know is a pretty clear indication that I would live in hell I would even entertain the idea of getting back together with you. I have moved on and you have to accept that, stop acting like a spoilt kid who doesn't get the toy he wants" she shouted._

He smiled to himself, at least now he couldn't get confused about Lorelai and Jason getting back together. When she said she had moved on was she talking about him? He wondered for a moment and thought about their kiss. He had finally decided after all these years to just kiss her, he had wanted to so many times before, but something had always happened and the timing was always wrong and he never really had the guts to tell her. Was it right for them both now? The kiss had been great, and far exceeded his expectations, she looked so beautiful standing there and he decided just to take a shot, he was tired of waiting. When she had moved to kiss him again after the initial kiss he was surprised but was glad he hadn't made a jackass out of himself by kissing her, her lips were so soft against his and their bodies were pressed up against each other, he had never had this much passion for anyone before but it had built up over the years he thought. Why hadn't he bought that damn book earlier? He was pulling her in again for a third kiss until Kirk had decided to grace them with his presence... his naked presence, damn he could have killed him for having such bad timing.

Luke decided that maybe it was time he went down to check that Lorelai was okay. He walked down the stairs trying to be as noisy as he could so that they both would know he was coming. When he got downstairs he turned and caught sight of Lorelai and smiled at her, he saw the sides of her lips tugging up at either side as she did a half smile back at him.

"Is everything ok Lorelai?" Luke asked as he walked over to her and looked between both her and Jason.

"Yes everything is just fine, Jason was just leaving actually" Lorelai said.

"Huh - is that what I was doing?", Jason said as he made a move towards Lorelai, Luke saw this and moved between them.

"I think it's time that you left, don't you? Luke said looking at Jason sternly.

"This is between me and Lorelai, just go back to your diner and mind your own business" Jason said, clearly exasperated by Luke's presence.

"Please Jason, just go, I've already told you that I have moved on, I'm sorry buts it's over" Lorelai said in a gentler tone as she turned to look at Luke and gave him a small smile.

"Is this your new boyfriend? A guy who works in some stupid diner in a small town he probably will never leave because he's boring and scared of change, is this who you want? You could have me Lorelai, the guy who yes does have some strange habits but also can be exciting, I can give you the life you deserve and everything you want so don't walk out on me for him" Jason shouted angrily.

Lorelai looked between Jason and Luke, what a Malcolm in the Middle moment she was having right now. Luke stood there looking very angry, his fists were clenched, his body all tense, 'mmm' she thought and she looked at him, 'he's a lot more muscular than I thought', she then scolded herself for thinking about Luke like that when he and Jason were two seconds away from performing some WWF moves in each other. She was angry at Jason for what he had said to Luke, how dare he say that about him, he didn't even know him!

"GET OUT JASON" Lorelai shouted. "WE ARE OVER, LUKE IS MY BEST FRIEND AND TWICE THE MAN YOU'LL EVER BE SO LEAVE HIM ALONE & WHILE YOUR DOING THAT DO THE SAME FOR ME, NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY INN". Lorelai shouted, she hadn't even thought about what she was saying, she got so angry when she heard Jason badmouthing Luke.

Jason sighed, he turned round and stomped out of the Inn. "If there was a prize for an adult who could most act like a spoilt brat Jason would definatley win it ... maybe we could get him a medal or a big trophy, possibly bigger than the dance competition one. Actually he doesn't deserve one that big, maybe just a medal" Lorelai said before Luke looked and her with the look that he always gave her when she was babbling on about something. He smiled at her in a way that made Lorelai shiver inside and she smiled back at him. Even though a lot of tonight mostly sucked to she was so glad to have Luke.

"Everything is ok now, I think he has finally got the message" Luke said softly and he turned and put his arm on her shoulder. He wasn't sure what she would want from him, things were still so undecided between the two of them. As he touched her he saw her shiver a bit, and he did too as he felt the electricity there between them.

Lorelai stood and watched Luke as he spoke in that sweet and caring tone that he had only ever seen him use with her, even then it was rare, she couldn't believe how she hadn't seen what was right in front of her eyes for so long. When he put his arm round her she felt a shiver run up her body. "O god Luke" she said just above a whisper as she moved in to hug him, she felt so safe in his arms and she never wanted to let go and have to face up to everything that had happened.

"It's okay Lorelai, I'm here and I'm not going to leave" he whispered softly in her ear, his mouth slightly grazed her cheek as he moved to smell her hair which smelt great, he started to hug her back tightly and never wanted to let her go. They both stood there for almost a minute until Lorelai broke the silence, as usual...

"Thanks Luke" she said just above a whisper.

"No problem, so where were you before? By the time I had managed to get Kirk back I couldn't see you" he said as they stared at each other intently. Then she seemed to look away and frowned.

"I just had some stuff to deal with at home, um something happened Rory" she said, she saw the look on his face when she quickly added "but she's okay, she is upset and wanted to be alone, she is going to need me a lot over the next little while I think" Lorelai said quietly as if she was almost talking to herself. She was so upset about what had happened she hadn't even processed it in her mind yet. She really wanted to share it with Luke but she couldn't, she couldn't do that to Rory.

"You wanna talk about it?" Luke said to her with a concerned look on his face.

"No, not right now, I haven't even processed it in my own head yet and Rory would kill me but thank you...for just being here for me" Lorelai said, she had been distracted by everything with Rory but she needed him to know how important it was that he was there for her, as he always had been for both her and Rory.

"There is something you could do for me though" she said grinning, "I would kill for a lovely big tasty cup of coffee goodness" Lorelai said smiling, the thought seemed to brighten her mood.

Luke rolled his eyes before saying, "That stuff will kill you" in his usual gruff tone, here they go again, their normal diner routine banter.

"Yes well so will a lot of things yummy coffee man, but is that any reason to stop, we all gotta go sometime and what better way to do it than with a big mug of coffee, it would definatley be my preference...although anything that involves coffee is my preference though so don't limit that just to my death...mmmm I love it" said Lorelai as she looked into space for a moment.

"Fine, I'll make you it as long as you only have one cup" Luke said.

"Three" she shot back.

"One"

"Three"

"Two and we'll call it even" he said.

"Score!" she said smiling.

He would have given her ten cups of coffee if it made her happy, they both knew he would do anything to make her smile, although for Lorelai also known as the Java Junkie of all of Connecticut only two cups of coffee was pretty good.

He made her a cup of coffee and himself some herbal tea and took it out to her, she was sitting on the couch staring into outer space, looking beautiful as usual he thought. She seemed to disengage from her trance when she saw him coming over, he didn't know if she was eyeing the coffee or him...he hoped it was the latter.

"My precious" said Lorelai in a husky voice trying to pull off the Lord of the Rings thing.

"Attractive" Luke said.

"Why thank you" she said and smiled widely at him over the coffee before she frowned slightly as she thought about Rory.

"You look tired, maybe you should get to bed soon" Luke said concerned, he knew that she had stuff on her mind, probably to do with whatever had happened Rory.

"A polite way of telling someone that they look like crap" Lorelai said as she laughed.

"You have many talents Lorelai but looking like crap isn't one of them" Luke said as he looked away, clearly embarrassed before adding.

Lorelai smiled, she had never known how sweet Luke could be when he wasn't putting on his macho attitude. Though she did feel tired she really wanted to spend some more time with Luke. 'This is so weird' she thought, she got tingles from the diner man!

"Ok well on that sweet note Luke Danes I am going to head to bed" Lorelai said and smiled sweetly at him.

"Well I'll walk you to your room then if you want, but if you don't I won't because it's no problem I can stay here and you can go to your room and then after I will go to mine" Luke said.

"Luke hon, I thought I was the only babbling idiot around here but it seems you could give me a run for my money" Lorelai said through giggles.

"Sorry" Luke said rolling his eyes at her and grinned at her when he saw her laugh.

"But yes I would like that" she said through a smile. She couldn't seem to stop smiling when she looked at him, she kept smiling and then feeling bad because of everything going on with Rory, but Luke just being there seemed to take her mind off everything else that was going on.

They got up and went into the kitchen to leave the empty cups back it, it seemed he had got his own way he thought, 'she did only have one cup of coffee after all' and grinned to himself. They walked in comfortable silence when she said "So you're working in the diner tomorrow?"

"Yup"

"Cool, well I might be in" Lorelai said

"Really because you hardly ever are" he said sarcastically as she nudged him.

They walked up the stairs side my side, they occasionally touched hands which they both secretly did on purpose, halfway up the stairs Luke took Lorelai's hand and laced his fingers through hers, she turned to him and smiled and he gently squeezed her hand. She was so busy smiling at him she stumbled on the stairs, 'holy cow did my knees just go weak just because he held my hand?" she thought to herself.

He saw her smile at him and half grinned back, then she stumbled on the stair. She seems a lot clumsier than I remember he thought, maybe she's nervous, he hoped she was nervous because he liked the idea that he could make her nervous. He grabbed onto her arm and stopped her from falling as she grabbed him.

"My hero" Lorelai said in a high pitched voice.

"I'm going to go into Hartford tomorrow to get myself some new feet because these sure don't seemed to be doing the job" she said, obviously embarrassed at making a complete fool on of herself in front of Luke...again. He laughed and said "It's probably all that coffee finally getting to your system, hell you drink enough of it".

"Nah its probably just the vodka I put in the coffee when you weren't looking"

"Ah right, because that's so much better" he said rolling his eyes in true Luke fashion.

They were walking along the hallway and reached Lorelai's door which was next door to his. "This is me" she said smiling, she never noticed how nice his eyes were until now and he looked sexy in that brown jumper showing off his nice physique. He smiled at her, watching her every move intently, never wanting to look away. She looked great as always, her hair sat nicely around her beautiful face, and she was watching him with her amazing blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room.

"Yup here we are" he said, obviously nervous.

"Ok well thanks again Luke for being there tonight, and sorry about Jason I'm not sure what was going through his mind back there, I never really saw the psycho stalkerish side to him before... I wonder if he likes the movie psycho? I mean he ain't no Norman Bates but hey I'm sure with the right mentor he could..." she stopped herself and looked at him, she he looked at her with the normal look he gave her when she was babbling on about something.

"mm well he didn't want to let a good thing go so I can't blame him for that" Luke said nervously as he shifted his feet and looked down at his hands.

Lorelai took his hand in hers and said "I think I want to see this side of you more often because the sweet Luke is definatley nicer than the coffee Nazi" she said and laughed. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand again softly. She then leaned in and gave him a hug, she loved the feeling of his arms around her, she hadn't felt tingles even remotely like this since ... Christopher. He squeezed her gently as he smelt her hair and closed his eyes, he'd wanted to be like this with Lorelai for years, he had never felt this way about anyone, not even his ex-wife Nicole. Lorelai pulled her head back so that she was looking into Luke's eyes, she put her hands on his face and kissed him softly, he kissed back softly, then she put her arms round his neck as he pulled her closer to him. The kiss got more passionate as he pushed her gently up against the door. She gently slipped her tongue into his mouth and she heard him groan quietly with pleasure which turned her on even more. They massaged each others tongues as she ran her fingers through his hair which was so soft, totally not what she expected but then again it's been protected from the big bad world under that cap for most of it's life so that's probably why she thought. His arms were wrapped around her waist tightly as he kissed her passionately, this had definatley been a surprising night Luke thought.

Then Lorelai pulled back and kissed him softly on the lips and smiled, then she whispered into his ear "Goodnight Luke"

He pulled her close and kissed her gently before whispering into her ear "Goodnight Lorelai"

They both felt the tingles. She turned to open her door and said "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite".

Luke laughed and looked at her like she was crazy and said "Ok...will do"

She looked at him and did her world famous pout and said "You're supposed to say 'Only if they don't blow me up with dynamite"

Luke rolled his eyes and gruffly said "Fine...Only if they don't blow me up with dynamite"

She winked at him and giggled as he blushed and turned round and went into her room, taking one last look at Luke before closing the door.

* * *

_Hey I hope you all like the fic so far - it's my first ever one! Please review and give me feedback on my work and I would be happy to chat to anyone and hear their thoughts - my email is __. Have fun reading, Cat!_


	2. A New Day

**Chapter 2: A New Day**

BEEP BEEP BEEP – The alarm clock rang the next morning at 7.30 am.

"Jeez can't anyone get some sleep around here" Lorelai said as she covered her head with the pillow. She had set the alarm the previous night, but she hadn't got much sleep, she had so many thoughts running through her head about Rory, her parents and Luke. She lifted the phone and was about to call Rory when she remembered what time it was. She thought it was better not to call her this early, she probably needed a good sleep anyway.

She got up, dressed and showered and went downstairs, she had to sort out things for breakfast for the guests, and she wanted to talk to Sookie about Luke, she couldn't keep it to herself anymore. She went downstairs and saw a few kitchen staff setting up the tables in the dining room for breakfast, she continued on and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey sookie" Lorelai said

"Morning honey" Sookie said

"Any Coffee around this joint?" she said.

"Yup hold on I'll get you some"

"Thanks" she said and smiled, "Sookie?"

"Yea?"

"Luke kissed me" she blurted out.

"What? When? How? Oh my god I can't believe you kids finally kissed" she squealed as she jumped up around.

"Me neither actually, it happened last night outside on the porch after everyone else had gone to bed" Lorelai said smiling

"How was it? This is so exciting. Are you a couple now? Ohhh this is the biggest town news since....no it's the biggest. This is so great! I have to tell Jackson" Sookie screamed suddenly in trance as if she was talking to herself.

"Hey there Sookie, come back to us" Lorelai said

"I can't I'm so excited with you and the Luke and the kiss and the Luke" Sookie started making up a tune, very similar to the one she had sung when Rory first started going out with Dean.

"Ok but we haven't told anyone, and I really don't want anyone else to know at the minute please Sookie promise me you won't tell anyone, even Jackson because it's so new and you know what this town is like!" Lorelai said in a serious tone as she looked at Sookie sternly.

Sookie frowned "Can I tell Davie?"

Lorelai laughed and said "Fine you can tell him but only because he can't tell anyone else, unless he is a super telepathic baby" she said.

"Yay, so tell me everything already, leave out nothing!!" Sookie said.

"First please stop screaming and talking like that, if your voice got any higher the dogs within a mile radius will think someone is using one of those special whistles and the Inn will be surrounded and stand still hon, you look like a kangaroo on speed...haha great mental picture"

Sookie laughed "Sorry honey I'm just so happy!"

"Ok well last night, Jason showed up and in a nutshell he told Luke that we were still together so obviously Luke was pissed because he thought we were dating" Lorelai said.

"I told you he didn't just want company to the wedding or movies, oooh he loves you, with the love and the Luke and the Kiss" Sookie started to sing again.

"Sookie, you're not gonna hear if you keep singing" Lorelai said, and Sookie immediately stopped.

Lorelai told Sookie the whole story about how the kiss happened and then about Kirk, she didn't mention anything about what was going on with Rory because it was way too soon to be telling anyone about it yet. She was really happy that Sookie liked what was going on, she hoped she would stop singing that stupid song though.

"Ok hon well I'm going to do the rounds, check the guests are all ok, so breakfast will be ready soon?" She asked as she walked backwards out of the kitchen. "Because I think that there are a lot of hungry people out here"

"Yup it's coming right up" Sookie squealed, obviously she still hadn't got used to talking at a normal volume Lorelai thought and grinned.

"Ok hon and thanks for paying attention to the whole voice thing"

Luke had been walking towards the kitchen, he was going to ask if Sookie needed any help but the truth is he wanted to see if Lorelai was there because he hadn't seen her around. He was a few steps away from the kitchen and turned round when he heard Kirk shout "God morning Vietnam", "crazy fool" Luke grumbled to himself and turned round suddenly when he felt someone bump into him.

"O...Luke...hey...Sorry" Lorelai said, embarrassed she looked down at her feet.

"Sorry I wasn't looking" he said, his voice instantly softened.

"Ditto " she said as she looked up at him and smiled, they stood for a few seconds smiling and looking deeply into each others eyes when someone shouted over "Hey is breakfast almost ready" and they both jumped.

"Oh did we interrupt you two kids" Patty said smiling as she nudged Babette.

"Breakfast will be right out Patty" Lorelai said and looked at Luke, he nodded and went to sit down, this was a new situation for both of them and they really didn't want the whole town knowing about them.

After breakfast the guests went up to pack their stuff, Luke and Lorelai hadn't spoken since their staring incident before breakfast and had deliberately avoided eye contact because they knew this would just draw attention to each other. He noticed she hadn't actually sat down to eat anything herself because she was so busy getting everyone else sorted out, she must be hungry he thought, he grinned, she was always hungry though so no change there.

Lorelai stood up after breakfast to just say a few words to everyone who had come for the test-run. "Ok everyone, thanks a lot for coming, it was great having you all here to share this with, I really hope that you all enjoyed your stay at the Dragonfly Inn, and if you know what's good for you, you will all come back as paying guests in the future" Lorelai said laughing as she looked over at Sookie who was standing just outside the door of the kitchen smiling. "Now if everyone would pack their things I can arrange for Derek to take all your suitcases down, and again thanks for coming, this Inn has been mine and Sookie's dream for many years as you all know" she said, she was so happy that they had taken the step to open their own Inn, this was a new beginning for them both.

Most of the guests went up to Lorelai afterwards to congratulate her on the Inn and how great it was, Luke wanted to wait until he had her alone though, he didn't really want to say anything in front of everyone in case they got the wrong idea...well actually the right idea but they just didn't want people knowing quite yet. He hated being the topic of conversation, which is why one of his main aims in life was to try and keep his personal life as quiet as possible, which was a hard task in this town.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Lorelai was in her room starting to pack her things away so that her room could be cleaned, 'Ok I was here for a night but I have enough clothes here for a week' she thought, 'God I am hungry, I'll go down as soon as I'm finished this to get something to eat'. She was leaning over the bed with her back to the door when she heard a knock, 'great, probably Michel coming to complain to her' she thought. "C'mon in" she shouted.

"Hey" Luke said.

"O, hey, I thought it was someone else", she said

Luke was standing in the doorway holding a cup of coffee, he thought she would probably need some. Lorelai spied the cup and smiled the bright smile he loved so much, she ran over and said "aw you're the best, I was just starting to get the shakes there, only one cup this morning – what is that all about? This running my own Inn business sure is going to get in the way of my caffeine addiction"

"Yes well knowing you, you will do just fine with both" Luke said as he rolled his eyes.

She took the cup off his and smelt the fresh coffee aroma and moaned as she took a sip, it drove him crazy when she did that, it made him think about her moaning at something else, then he thought back to the kiss from the previous night and tried hard to keep a straight face.

"So I think the test-run went well don't you think" Luke said.

"Yea me too" she said and smiled, "I'll have to wait and see what everyone wrote on the comment cards" she groaned and said "Especially Taylor's". She frowned slightly as she imagined the pages of criticisms he would have for her.

"Taylor's an idiot" he said gruffly and frowned slightly as if thinking about how annoying Taylor could be.

"Anyway I'm just heading to the diner now, Caesar opened up for me but I told him I would be there by now" Luke said.

"O ok" she said trying to hide her disappointment that he was leaving.

"I just wanted to bring you coffee and tell you how great the Inn is and you should be very proud, I can already tell that it's going to be a success" he said and smiled and then looked at his hands nervously.

She smiled at him, "Thanks" she said. He smiled back at her one of his genuine smiles that he rarely did to anyone but her which she loved, she felt so nervous all of a sudden. When did she ever start to feel like this near Luke? This was Luke as in the guy she had been friends with for years and had been like a father to Rory, when had she been stuck for what to say with him?

There was a sharp knock on the door and they book turned round, to see Michel looking in and she rolled her eyes as she could already sense what was coming. "I know that this might be a hard concept for you to grasp but we have an Inn full of people and we have a lot to do today, I have a hair appointment at two and I will not miss it because you are a lazy American, it takes 3 weeks to get an appointment with Fernando" he whined in his annoying French accent, he started to get more agitated as she tapped her foot against the floor waiting for him to finish.

"Ok, when you're on the way to the salon you should pick up some chill pills though, and remove whatever is up your..", Lorelai said as Luke coughed. "Ok I'll be right now okay?" Lorelai said looking at Michel.

"I will be waiting with bated breath" he said sarcastically as he walked out.

"Mmm I'm rethinking the whole going down thing at all if he's going to be waiting with 'bated breath'" she said grinning slyly. Luke stood beside her a rolled his eyes, same old Lorelai he thought.

"So I might see you later at the diner?" he said hopefully.

"Yea I'll see how it goes with Rory but I will probably be in at some stage" she said and then added "I'll need to get my fix of coffee too ... I would like to get a picture of the person who invented coffee and put it on my mantelpiece" she said as Luke rolled his eyes yet again.

"But if I can't find them or they are too ugly to be put in my house I'll just get a picture of Starbucks instead" she said as she started to babble, then she looked at him and said "but yea I'll probably be at the diner today, can't go 24 hours without the greatest coffee in Connecticut" she smiled at him, obviously flirting.

"Well you wouldn't wanna go without coffee" he said gruffly.

"Well there's another reason I wanna go as well" she said smiling.

"O yea?" he grinned

"Yeah well I hear there's a pretty hot guy that works there"

He got closer to her and whispered "O yea?" grinning.

"Yea" she said smiling "Don't tell me you haven't noticed Caesar walking about in those tight pants recently" she said grinning.

"Only kidding, it was you I was checking out" she said as she moved closer to him, jeez...she just realised she had been checking Luke out, wow this had been a weird 2 days.

He smiled as he put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him, "Well you can get something that's not on the menu" he said grinning, "Dirty!" she said as she put her arms round his neck. She pulled him closer to her and kissed him softly and then deepened the kiss as he slipped his tongue into her mouth softly, she let out a quiet moan which he smiled at through the kiss. She ran her hands through his hair as they kissed passionately and tickled the back of his neck with her fingers as she gently put her hands on the sides of his face. He moved his hands further down her back as she ground her hips ever so slightly into him, he moved his hands down until he started to caress her ass and squeezed gently as she moaned. They continued to kiss until he pulled back and kiss her softly, they both tried to catch their breath.

Luke never wanted to let her go, he could kiss her all day like this.

"If this goes on I'll never be able to leave" he said smiling nervously.

"Hehe" she giggled "My evil plan has worked" she said as she kissed him softly on the lips.

"I gotta get downstairs now anyway" she said.

"Ok well hopefully I'll see you later" he said as he grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes.

"Yea hopefully" she said smiling.

"Bye" he said and turned and left her standing there stunned.

Did that just happen? She thought and smiled at how amazing she felt from the kiss, her lips still felt the tingles. She then heard a crash downstairs, "Ok ok I'm coming" she shouted.


	3. Surprise Visits

**CHAPTER 3: Surprise Visits**

She had a lot to do around the Inn after all the guests had left. Once she had finished she decided it was time she went home and tried to talk to Rory, she needed to tell her about Luke before anyone else found out and said to Rory before she had got the chance.

She pulled up to the house and had to do a double-take as she saw a Volvo parked outside, she only knew one person who might be here who owned a Volvo and even then it was very unlikely. She sat in her jeep looking at the Volvo with a confused look on her face. She got out of the jeep and went up to the door and opened it.

"Hon I'm home, who's that car in the driveway, I had the weirdest thought that it might be your dads but c'mon..." she shouted, just before she had finished the sentence she looked into the sofa in the living room and there he was.

"Christopher" Lorelai said quietly as she tried to catch her breath

"Hi Lor, surprise" he said as he walked over to her smiling.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, what the hell is he doing here?

"Well I called last night to tell you I was going to be in the area tomorrow and there was no answer and I couldn't reach you on your cell so I just decided to stop in and surprise my girls" he said.

"I was at the Inn last night and I don't have my cell on" she said, letting it all sink in.

"Yea Rory told me" he said and then he frowned slightly and she saw the concerned look on his face.

"You've spoken to Rory?" she asked in a surprised tone.

"No I broke into your house and sat on your couch waiting for you to get home, you'll need to get a new back door, apparently kicking them down isn't so good for them" he said sarcastically.

"Funny" she shot back, she had tried to come back with something smarter but she was still getting to grips that he was here – 'He sure knows the perfect time to visit' she said to herself.

"I only got here about half an hour ago, Rory was just going to take a shower. She was acting a bit strange though Lor and looked like she had been crying, I was a bit worried" Chris said with concern.

"Yea well a lot has happened the last few days" Lorelai added quietly, it all started coming back to her, she had been trying so hard not to get upset about it, all the stuff with Luke took her mind off it but now it was hitting harder than she thought it would.

"God Chris, she has grown up so much the past few months" Lorelai whispered to him, trying not to break down in tears.

Chris knew Lorelai better than anyone and Lorelai knew him better than anyone, he could see the worry and hurt in her eyes as she looked at him, he hated seeing her like this.

"It's okay Lor why don't you just tell me what happened"

"It's all gone so wrong, Chris, how did it all go so weird?" Lorelai asked, she wanted answers she knew she would never get, but Chris knew her so well and she wanted him to help her. He was Rory's dad, they had a special bond that would always connect them and she needed to talk to someone about this stuff with Rory. She was glad he was here to help her through this, Luke was great but he wasn't Rory's dad.

"Come here" he said as he hugged her, he knew she needed his help, especially if this had something to do with Rory, he could feel her crying into his shoulder as he stood there, he wanted to make everything better somehow but he just didn't know how.

* * *

Rory had been in her room getting dressed when she heard her mom come in, she heard everything that was said, she couldn't believe that she had upset her mom so much, how could she be so stupid? Rory decided that maybe it was best if she just let her parents talk for a while, she didn't mind if her mom told her dad about what had happened. She had expected her to but she didn't want to have to listen to what she would say about her, she didn't want to hear how ashamed her mom was of her, she couldn't deal with that right now. Rory turned from the door where she had been listening and went over to her desk where she sat down, put on her walkman and started to read her book.

Outside in the living room Lorelai and Chris sat on the sofa, he had his arm round her trying to comfort her, she had stopped crying but he could still see the worry written all over her face.

"She slept with Dean" Lorelai blurted out suddenly, watching Chris and waiting for his reaction to the news. His mouth dropped open as he tried to figure out the right response to what Lorelai had just told him.

"She did?... Wow... that's a big step. I didn't know that they had gotten back together...were they safe? O god is she pregnant?" he said as his voice got more desperate.

"Yes they were safe and they didn't didn't get back together Chris, they are far from together, he's her ex boyfriend, she may be single but he sure isn't" she said. She didn't know what he would say when he found out that Rory had slept with a married man.

"What?! He has a girlfriend and he slept with Rory?" Chris said in a louder voice.

"No Chris, he hasn't got a girlfriend...he has a wife" Lorelai choked out as the thought of it upset her, he cheated on his wife and Rory was the other woman. She saw the shock of it register on Chris's face and she could see that he was getting angry.

"I'm gonna kill that kid, how could he do that to his wife? I actually thought he was a good guy when I met him. Why would Rory do that, she's such a good kid, did she know he was married?" he said the volume in his voice rising as the thought of that scumbag sleeping with her daughter sunk in.

"Calm down Chris, yes she knew... it was both of their faults but we're just gonna have to be here for Rory, I think she knows she made a mistake with Dean" Lorelai said and then started crying again and turned to Chris and said "She told me she hated me".

"What? When?" Chris said shocked that Rory would ever say that.

"Last night after I found out, she said she hated me for ruining this for her" she said as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Chris moved closer to her and held her face and wiped her tears with his fingers and looked into her eyes.

"Lor, listen to me, you are the best mom anyone could ever want, she didn't mean it, Rory loves you more than anyone and we both know that, she was upset but she didn't mean it" he said, looking into her eyes, he saw how vulnerable she was after all this stuff with Rory but she still looked beautiful he thought as she smiled slightly and put her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Chris, I'm so glad that you're here" she whispered. 

"Yea I am too" he added and kissed her hair softly.

* * *

Half an hour later after Lorelai had cleaned her face and got back to normal she gently knocked on Rory's door. A few seconds later it opened and she saw Rory's tear stained face looking out at her.

"I'm so sorry" Rory choked.

Lorelai reached out and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay hon. It was a mistake, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I didn't understand that" she said.

"I hate that I made you cry and that you are ashamed of me but I don't blame you because I know that it was a huge mistake and I hate myself for it but I don't want you to hate me" Rory cried.

"Shush" Lorelai said softly trying to calm her down. "Listen Rory, I'm not going to lie, what you did disappointed me but I would never be ashamed of you" she said as she pulled back and looked straight at Rory and said "And I could never hate you, I love you more than you'll ever know" Lorelai said.

"I love you too mom" Rory whispered, she was so relieved that her mom didn't hate her after everything she had done. "I didn't mean what I said last night, I regretted saying it straight after, I was so upset but that's no excuse for saying that to you" Rory said to her mom. Lorelai hugged her and said "I'm glad". They stood for a minute in the doorway of Rory's room when they heard footsteps behind them and they both turned to see Chris coming out of the kitchen towards them.

"Hey sweetie, I thought you could do with this" he said as he handed Rory a cup of coffee.

"Thanks dad" she said and smiled and hugged her dad quickly as he kissed her on the forehead, then they were interrupted by by a cough in the background, they both turned round to look at Lorelai who was looking at Chris with a smile plastered across her face, then she pouted, "You have something for me?"

Chris looked at her confused and said "You want a hug and kiss too?" He asked as he came over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"No it wasn't but thanks...now don't pretend you don't know what this pout is for!" she said in a serious voice.

His face cracked a wide smile as he turned, walked into the kitchen and came back with a cup in his hand and handed it to Lorelai and laughed "You actually think I would have the guts to make coffee and not give you a cup?"

"Yes well I was just checking, you never know who has been hit with the 'duh' stick these days"

"Yea I know it" he laughed "...Ok well how about we order a pizza and maybe watch a few movies?" Chris said looking between Rory and Lorelai. He didn't realised how much he missed his girls until he saw them again.

"Yay" both Rory and Lorelai said in agreement and then Rory frowned and looked at her mom.

"It's okay babe, we can talk about everything tomorrow, let's just enjoy tonight" Lorelai said sincerely to Rory. Rory smiled and said "Yea that would be good."

Later the three of them were sitting on the couch watching the movie, Chris was in the middle, with Lorelai's head on one of his shoulders and his other arm around Rory. He looked between them and smiled, as they both saw him they smiled back and then all three grabbed another piece of pizza.

"Mm there isn't anything better than good junk food with good movie" Rory said

"I agree" Lorelai said.

"I disagree...What about good junk food, good pizza " Chris added.

"Oh my god, how could we forget the coffee" Lorelai said as she looked between Chris and Rory. "I call myself a Caffeine junkie and I forget about my baby, I am ashamed" she said. Chris and Rory looked at each other and rolled their eyes as they waited for the rest of the rant.

"How can I drink coffee again knowing that I have failed him? He will never forgive me and I will live for the rest of my life in a world where I can't drink coffee because of the betrayal..." she stopped as Chris covered her mouth.

"Yuck Lor" he said laughing as he wiped his hand that Lorelai had just licked. Lorelai laughed wickedly and grinned.

"Okay how about another movie" Lorelai said.

"Yea I'm up for it" Chris said smiling.

"I'm pretty tired actually so I might just read for a while and then go to bed" said Rory

"Spoilsport" Lorelai said.

"I'm tired!"

"Ok well goodnight sweetie" he said as he hugged her and kissed her on the head.

"Yea night hon, love you" Lorelai said

"Love you too" Rory said to her mum and turned to Chris "Love you too Dad".

"Love you too, night"

"Anymore of this and we will be renaming our family the Walton's" Lorelai said laughing.

"O god No" both Chris and Rory groaned.

* * *

Luke sat in the diner waiting for Kirk to finish his fourth cup of coffee, and another couple sat in the corner. He was wondering what Lorelai was doing at that moment, surprised that she hadn't been in the diner all day, 'mm' he thought, maybe Rory isn't as well as Lorelai thought she would. He was disappointed he hadn't seen her but he knew how important her relationship with Rory was to her. He got distracted as he saw the couple leave money for the bill and get up and leave, now there was only Kirk left.

Should he give her a call? Maybe he could just call and see how she is and see how everything is with Rory. He picked up the phone and dialled her number, it rang about six times before she answered breathless as if she had run to the phone.

"Hello" Lorelai said

"Hey" he said

"O hey, how are you?" she replied

"I'm okay, I just wanted to check how you were doing and if Rory was okay, 'cos you didn't stop by today"

"Yea sorry I just had a lot of stuff on"

"So everything is okay?"

"Yea everything is fine, Rory just went to bed" she said.

"O really, well what are you up to?" Luke said, he thought that maybe that he could maybe stop by and keep her company.

"I'm just watchin' a movie actually" she said

"I could stop by if you want some company since Rory has gone to bed" Luke said gruffly pretending that he didn't mind either way.

"Um...no that's okay, I think I might go to bed soon anyway I'm pretty tired, didn't get much sleep last night"

"Oh ok well maybe I'll see you tomorrow in the diner" he said, disappointed that she didn't want him to stop by but he could understand that she was tired so he just said goodnight and hung up. He would just close up the diner and then head up to his apartment, there was a baseball game on he could watch.

"Can I have another cup of coffee please Luke?" Kirk asked.

"No" he replied gruffly

"Why? Kirk asked.

"Because you've had too much, do you know what too much caffeine can do to you? Let me ask you something, do you know how many hours a day kids in Brazil work just so you can drink all that crap? All day, everyday just so people like you can feed their sick habit, don't you people get it?" Luke said growing louder by the second.

"Ok then a coffee to go please" Kirk said, not wanting to be at the other end of one of Luke's rants.

"Get out Kirk" Luke shouted as he moved closer to Kirk.

Luke watched Kirk run out, he was glad when he finally had the place to himself, he just didn't want to have to put up with Kirk again tonight after having to run after him last night, he wouldn't have cared as much if he hadn't have interrupted him with Lorelai. 'Was he born acting like an idiot or is there some sort of book on it?' he thought to himself.

* * *

Lorelai and Chris sat on the couch watching E.T, Lorelai dabbed her eyes as it ended.

"That's so sad" she replied, "I can't believe I still cry at this movie" she said laughing slightly.

"I can't believe we are watching E.T, do you remember how we used to watch this when we were young and then we would sit out on your parents balcony and look for alien ships in the sky" he said as he smiled at her.

"Yea, god I can't believe how old we are getting...god that's depressing" she said as she picked up some candy and stuffed it in her mouth thinking about how fast time has passed since Rory had been a baby. Time really does pass so quickly she thought.

"Well if it makes you feel better you look great"

"Thanks, you know flattery will get you everywhere" she said smiled. She always felt so comfortable around him because they had known each other for so long.

"So anyway...how's the baby and Sherry?" she asked, she hadn't spoken to him in a while so she was wondering how everything in his life was.

"Georgina is so great" he said smiling, "I missed all that with Rory, getting up in the middle of the night, watching her grow, seeing her first steps and all the major things like that" he said, she watched him as he spoke, she liked to see him so happy and she could see that he loved his daughter very much. He has grown up a lot in the last year she thought, but she was glad that even though after everything that they had been through that they could still talk like this, he was her first love and Rory's dad, they would always have a bond between them.

"That's great, I know you missed it with Rory but I'm glad that you are happy" she said.

"Well I love being with Georgina but there is something that I should tell you... Sherry and I have split up, we didn't want Georgina seeing us fighting all the time and growing up in that atmosphere so we thought it was the best thing to split up while we were still on speaking terms" he sighed as he said this. Lorelai looked at him, clearly shocked by what he had just said, she didn't think that Sherry was right for him personally but she thought it was partly because of her own personal reasons.

"I'm sorry I had no idea, I thought you were happy, when we were at the hospital you seemed like you were happy" she said sincerely, she really did think that they were happy together.

"Yea well but we stayed together because she was pregnant as you remember and that really isn't a good enough reason to get married, we made a mistake, it took me this long to figure that out that a baby can't make a marriage... you realised when you were sixteen-I just wish I could have figured it all out earlier" he said as he looked at Lorelai thinking how great she was and what a great job she had done of bringing up Rory, regardless of previous events.

"Well things happen for a reason and you have another beautiful daughter, not quite as great as Rory" she said grinning, "But trust me Chris, you'll find someone, you have grown up so much this past year" she laughed as she said "You're not the same flaky guy on the motorbike, sexy I admit but now you're a successful, mature and reliable man which is great" she said as she smiled back at him.

"So I'm not sexy anymore now that I don't have my bike?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well I must say the bike did it for me really, without the bike Rory mightn't be here today"

"Ok well I shall be buying a new bike before I next come up to Stars Hollow" he chuckled

"Good to know, so how long are you staying for? She asked

"Well I was hoping I could stay a couple of days, spend some time with my girls, Sherry is away for a week with Georgina to see her parents and I have a few days off work so..." he said.

"Cool well there'll always be space here for you Chris you know that"

"Thanks Lor" he said putting his arm round her, he turned to look at her and they stared at each other for a second, Deja-Vu he thought as he remembered back to the night before Sookie's wedding before everything had got so messed up. He leaned towards her, they had a connection and he knew that they both felt it, he still wanted it to happen for them, and he knew in his heart that he still did and would always love her.

Lorelai sat there stunned as she looked into Christopher's eyes, tonight had been so great between them, she couldn't honestly believe that this was happening again after everything that they had been though. She saw him lean in to kiss her and she could feel herself doing the same, she knew she would always have something special with Chris but was it really right for her? She always thought if he matured and was responsible they would be able to work it out but after what happened at Sookie's wedding it had all got screwed up she had given up on it. They were both centimetres from their lips touching, she didn't realise that she had been holding her breath all this time and just at that second she heard the phone ring.

"I gotta get that" she said, pulling back from him, glad in a way that the phone had rung because she wasn't quite sure what she was doing.

She ran to the phone before it rang off, she couldn't find it at first but it was in the kitchen.

"Hello" Lorelai said slightly breathless

"Hey" the voice on the other line said

"O hey, how are you?" she said, surprised he was calling her but she was happy that he did, she missed hearing his voice a bit.

"I'm okay, I just wanted to check how you were doing and if Rory was okay, 'cos you didn't stop by today" Luke said. She smiled to herself as she thought about how thoughtful he could be at times especially when it came to her and Rory, even though he tried to be so macho all the time.

"Yea sorry I just had a lot of stuff on" she said, feeling instantly guilty at everything that had happened that evening, she had let things get too far with Christopher.

"So everything is okay?"

"Yea everything is fine, Rory just went to bed" she said, she didn't want to mention Christopher because it might be a bit weird for him, she would tell him tomorrow.

"O really, well what are you up to?" Luke said, he thought that maybe that he could maybe stop by and keep her company.

"I'm just watchin' a movie actually" she said, she wasn't lying, she had been watching a movie she just didn't mention the company, she could argue that if it ever came up she thought, because technically she hadn't lied.

"I could stop by if you want some company since Rory has gone to bed"

"Um...no that's okay, I think I might go to bed soon anyway I'm pretty tired, didn't get much sleep last night" she did want to see him but not tonight after all this Chris stuff, she would tell Luke about Chris staying when she saw him tomorrow.

"Oh ok well maybe I'll see you tomorrow in the diner" she thought she heard disappointment in his voice but she wasn't sure.

"Yea I should be in tomorrow so I'll see you then"

"Ok bye" he said

"Bubye" she said as she hung up the phone. She knew that she needed to go to bed and think things over in her head before she let them get screwed up. She sighed as she hung up the phone and walked into the living room where Chris was.

"That was a late call, everything okay?" he said to her.

"Yea it's fine, I'm gonna go to bed now though, so tired after the Inn and all the stuff with Rory" she sighed and yawned.

He got up and walked up to her and said "Okay well sleep well, Night Lor" as she gave her a quick peck before she turned to go upstairs. He didn't know who had been on the phone but he didn't think that it was a casual call, he yawned as he realised how tired he was too.

As Lorelai got into bed her head was mixed with thoughts of Luke and Chris, if she had have been told two weeks ago by someone that she would be in this situation between Chris and Luke she would have had the men in the white coats take them away. She had so much history with Christopher, no-one really forgot about their first love and he not to mention that he was Rory's dad...but Luke he's is so great. She thought back to all the times when she had counted on him for things or when he had just come over to fix things or when he made her the chuppah.

* * *

The next morning she woke up, not realising that she had slept in longer than he had meant to, 'why the hell don't fluffy alarm clocks work?' she said to herself. She climbed out of bed and walked downstairs, Chris was up, because the couch was empty and the blankets had been folded and were sitting on the couch. She walked towards the kitchen and noticed that Rory also wasn't in her room, then she heard Christopher and Rory laughing in the kitchen at something. She went in to see them both eating pancakes and drinking coffee, 'yum' she thought, he better have made some for me.

"Morning" the two of them said brightly to Lorelai as she entered the kitchen

"Yea, morning" she said yawning, she didn't like chat first thing in the morning, once she got her caffeine fix she would be fine though.

"So did you make me coffee and pancakes too? She asked smiling sweetly at Chris

"No mom Dad went to Luke's and got them, we should definitely keep him around longer, he would be so good to use as our personal slave to bring us back food and coffee" Rory said brightly, Lorelai had only been half listening until she heard Luke's name and she stood there for a minute not knowing what to say, she hadn't told either Rory or Chris about Luke. 'O God' she thought, I need to see Luke, he's going to be mad and think I was hiding something from him, which I was but I was going to tell him later when I saw him.

"Lor, you okay?" Chris asked concerned when she was standing there, she was frowning and she looked like she was worried about something.

"Yea sorry, so Chris you went to Luke's, did you talk to him" she asked trying to act as casual as she could.

"Yea, though he did seem a bit weird on it when I was talking to him" confused at why she was acting so weird about the diner guy.

"Mmm, guys I gotta go take care of something" she said as she rushed out of the kitchen so she could get dressed and go over to see Luke.

* * *

_Thanks for reading - reviews are much appreciated :)_


	4. A Compromising Position

**CHAPTER 4: A Compromising Position**

Luke was wiping the tables down the next morning, it was pretty quiet but he liked it being quiet some mornings so he could get things done without having people like Taylor complaining about his lack of community spirit or when Kirk was acting...well Kirk like. He heard the bell of the door ring as someone came in, he turned round to the counter, he hoped it was Lorelai but he knew it wouldn't be, it was too early in the morning for her.

"Hey" Chris said brightly to Luke.

"O hi" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"I'm Chris, Rory's dad, I'm not sure if you remember me"

"O right yeah, I just didn't realise you were in town?" he said with a confused look still plastered on his face.

"Well I stopped in to surprise the Gilmore girls yesterday" he said smiling, he couldn't be sure but he thought that Luke was acting slightly weird, had Lorelai told him what had happened at the wedding? Was he pissed at him because he had walked out on Lorelai?

"Oh ok, so where are they?" Luke asked gruffly, he was angry that Lorelai hadn't told him that Chris had been there last night, that is why she didn't want me to come over he realised. He remembered back to the time when Lorelai was supposed to be helping him paint the diner, and when Chris had shown up and she stood him up.

"O they're still in bed but I'm bringing them both back breakfast" and laughed as he added "the only safe way to wake Lor up is with coffee I think".

"Mm yea" Luke replied, he couldn't help but wonder if Chris had been lying next to Lorelai when he got up this morning. He couldn't believe this, 'I thought we were getting somewhere, we were on the same page yesterday morning, how can she do this to me again?' he said to himself as he felt the anger building up when he thought of Chris and her sleeping together after only a few hours of them kissing. Had it not meant to anything to her? He gave Chris the pancakes and coffee to go and watched him leave, as soon as he shut the door Luke slammed the coffee down on the counter and walked into the store room trying to calm himself down.

Almost an hour later the diner was quite busy as he rushed round the tables taking orders and bringing food, he was trying to do as much as he could to try and keep his mind off Lorelai but he couldn't seem to get her out of his head. He couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted her to come in today, he knew if she did she would tell him about her and Chris and leave Luke standing there, as he watched her leave...again.

He was carrying some plates out of the kitchen when he heard the bell of the door ring, he didn't look up but he knew who it was, he always knew when she was there. She stood there looking at him for a few seconds before he met her eyes, he then turned away and walked back into the kitchen. She followed after him, she thought she had seen the hurt in his eyes as he had looked back at her. 'I'm so stupid, why the hell didn't I just tell him?' she thought as she ran after him, she didn't have a clue what she was going to say yet but she really wanted to make it right between them.

"Luke wait" she called out from the inside of the counter as she followed him into the kitchen, he didn't answer her.

"Please Luke" she called out again. They were in the store room and he spun around, he had his angry face on and his fists were clenched, the way they had been when all that stuff with Jason had happened at the Inn.

"What do you want Lorelai" he snarled, he hadn't meant to say it so strongly but he wanted to hurt her the way she had hurt him... so many times.

She stood here for a second staring at him, stung by his words. "I was going to tell you today when I saw you, he surprised us, I had no idea he was coming" she said, she was looking at him with a frown on her face, she wanted him to understand, she needed him to understand she thought.

"Yea well now you didn't have to. It doesn't matter to me anyway, I mean it's not like we were exclusive or anything" he said gruffly not looking as her and pretending to be sorting out some things on the counter. He didn't want her to see that he was hurt by her, she obviously didn't care anyway.

"Chris and I aren't back together Luke" she said quietly as she watched him, she thought she saw some relief in his eyes when she said that, "Rory is going through some stuff so Chris is just staying a couple of days to help out that's all... he slept on the couch Luke" she said softly as she got closer to him.

"Look if you wanna be with him... I'm not gonna get in your way. Just don't kiss me and then run off with him Lorelai, if this friendship means anything to you" he said as he forced the words out, he knew how much she had wanted to be a family, and have 'the whole package' with Chris in the past and he wouldn't be second best to her.

"Luke...I don't want to be with Chris, we're just friends, I wouldn't be here now if I did"

"So what are you saying?" he asked still not looking at her.

"I want to give us a go" she said still not sure if he was still angry with her.

"Do you mean that? I mean if you wanna be with him that's fine, but I don't want you to say something you're gonna end up regretting later"

"Luke I swear on... coffee – and you know how much I hate to swear on anything but I want to give us a go." Lorelai said grinning.

"You're insane" he said gruffly, he looked up at her and grinned a bit as he said, "I didn't mean to be so...you know" he said looking at her.

"So everything is good between us?" she said reaching out for his hand.

"Yea I think so" he replied as he gave her a small grin and laced his fingers through hers. He moved closer to her and put his other hand on her waist.

"Good" she said smiling as she pulled him closer to her. They were standing opposite each other, Lorelai with her back leaning against a table in the storage room, he put his hand behind her neck as he pulled her in and kissed her softly, she put her arms around him and pulled him up against her as she deepened the kiss. He responded by moving his hands further down her back and gently pushing her up against the table, she let out a small moan. They opened their mouths wider and began tentative stroking with their tongues as the kiss became more passionate, she knew she had made the right decision by coming to see Luke she thought, smiling she ran his fingers through his hair, 'God I love doing that', she thought.

"Hey Luke?" Caesar shouted from the kitchen.

They stopped suddenly as Luke jumped back, Caesar walked in a second later and saw them standing there looking guilty and dishevelled as he noticed the some lipstick around Luke's mouth and Lorelai's hair was slightly out of place at he back. He grinned at them as he saw their embarrassed faces. "It's about time" he mumbled to himself, and then turned to Luke and said "You better get out there, it's getting crazy".

Luke coughed as he said "Yea I'll be right out, I was just talking to Lorelai about fixing..her sink, its broken"

"Okay well I should go anyway, talk to you later" she said catching her breath as she started to walk out, Caesar grinned at her and she smiled back.

"Bye Caesar" she said and quickly left the diner.

Luke went to leave as well when Caesar said "Maybe you should check the mirror before you go out there", he laughed as he walked out. Luke quickly ran up to his apartment to wipe his face, 'What I really need now is a cold shower', he thought. He was grinning from ear to ear as went back down to the diner.

* * *

Lorelai walked down the street smiling, amazed yet again about the passion she had for Luke, had she been blind all these years? She knew now that there was something special between them that she hadn't felt for anyone before and it was exciting.

"Hey doll" Babette shouted as she walked over to Lorelai when she was coming up to her house

"O hey Babette" Lorelai said as she looked up and stopped daydreaming about kissing Luke again but still smiling.

"You ok? You look like you've got a bit of a rash or something coming on" Babette said in a concerned voice looking at Lorelai.

"O no that's ok I think it's just allergies or something don't worry about it" Lorelai said quickly to Babette trying to come up with an excuse, she made a mental note to talk to Luke about shaving more regularly.

"Ok well if you need anything just call, I have loads of pills n stuff, I don't know what they all do but I'm sure something would probably work"

"Thanks Babette, I gotta be getting in anyway Rory is waiting"

"Ok honey, oh I saw Rory's dad stop by last night, fine specimen of a man he is" Babette said smiling.

"Yea well I'll talk to you later" Lorelai said, not knowing quite what to say to that comment, as she walked up to her porch and inside.


	5. Revelations

**CHAPTER 5: Revelations...**

"Hey" Lorelai shouted as she walked in.

"Hey mom, where did you go in such a hurry?" Rory asked

"Yea we thought you had gone officially insane" Chris said laughing, was this to do with Luke he wondered as he thought about the conversation at breakfast when she had rushed out of the house like a bat out of hell.

"As opposed to unofficially insane" she asked raising one eyebrow looking at Chris.

"So where were you?" Rory asked

"O I just had to talk to someone" she said quickly, she would tell Rory about it later when Chris was gone, she felt a bit weird talking to her about it when her dad was here.

The phone rang and Rory ran to answer it and then walked into her room with the phone. Outside in the living room Lorelai sat down on the couch and Chris followed her.

"So is everything okay Lor? You ran out kinda fast this morning" he asked, hoping she would give him some clue as to where she had gone to this morning. 

"What's with the inquisition...don't worry about it, I'm fine, just had something I needed to do" She said still smiling.

"Ok well Rory and I were talking about maybe going out for dinner and then seeing a movie if you wanted?" he said, giving up on her telling him where she went, she obviously didn't want him to know.

"Mm yea sure that sounds good", she said. They sat in comfortable silence on the couch for a few minutes watching TV when Rory emerged from her bedroom. Lorelai could see that she had been crying, Rory walked over to her mom and sat down before turning to her Mom and burst into tears.

"Hon what happened? Who was that on the phone?" Lorelai asked in a concerned voice, Chris moved over to the other side of Rory and put his hand on her shoulder, he didn't know what else he could do right now.

"That was Dean on the phone" Rory said still crying.

"Aw hon, what happened? What did he say?"

"He told me he was going to leave Lindsay for me, he kept saying he loved me and wanted to be with me"

"What did you say to him?" Lorelai asked concerned, this was a lot Rory had to deal with, she knew that Rory had made a mistake and Rory knew it too, it had been pretty big but she couldn't beat herself up about it forever. She was still disappointed that she had lost her virginity to a married guy and she was mad at Dean for letting her be the other woman, although in some strange way it was comforting to know that Dean did love her.

"I told him it was a mistake and I didn't want him to end it with Lindsay for me because I didn't want to be with him and it was such a huge mistake, god I am such a terrible person. How could I do this?" Rory said as she started crying.

"Shush" she said "Everything will be fine, it's just gonna take some time to get back to normal but you can get through this and I'll be here for you whenever you need to talk" Lorelai said hugging her.

"There's something else I need to tell you" Rory said as she turned to look at her Mom, "I called Grandma and decided to take her up on the offer to go to Europe" Rory said as she watched the look of shock register on her mom's face. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you I just need to get away from Stars Hollow for a while by myself ... I need to think and I can't do that here".

"But you won't be by yourself you'll be with Emily Gilmore" Lorelai said shocked that Rory had just made another massive decision without even consulting her. She could see why Rory had wanted to go to get away from everything that had happened, running away from your problems had always been the Gilmore way she thought as she remembered her road trip to Harvard after Max.

"I know but I just need to do this Mom, please understand that I really need to have some alone time, I'm sure grandma will give me that if I need to" Rory said in a hopeful voice.

"Mm well I wouldn't count your chickens too soon, I just wish you could have spoken to me about it first sweets" Lorelai said smiling slightly trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry about everything, I just need to get out of Stars Hollow, I know I can't avoid Lindsay and Dean forever, though the possibility is so appealing, but I think a month away will give me and Dean both some space"

"A month! Wow that's a long time ... do you know when you're leaving?" she asked,

"I asked Grandma if we could leave as soon as possible, she agreed so she's going to ring me back after she gets off the phone with her travel agent" Rory said just as she heard the phone ring, she went into her room to answer it as Lorelai sat there on the couch, stunned at what Rory had just told her.

"God I so need a strong drink right now"

"Well if you're offering maybe we'll skip the movies and go and get smashed in some bar" Chris said, he was surprised at what Rory had told him as well.

"You get the keys and I'll meet you in the car" she said looking at Chris, she was glad he was here for her right now, she didn't think she could take it if Rory had told her she was leaving and someone wasn't here to comfort her. Was it wrong that she liked Chris being here? She thought as an image of Luke flashed quickly in her head.

"That was Grandma" Rory said as she walked from her room towards the living room.

"Do you know when you're leaving? Lorelai asked, not really knowing if she wanted to know the answer or not, she could see from Rory's face that she wasn't going to like the answer anyway so she may as well brace herself.

"Tomorrow at 11" she replied frowning as she looked at her mom.

"What? Has Emily pulled off a bank job and wants to skip the country or something? ...Wow...that's so...soon" she gasped as she felt as if all the air had been knocked out of her.

"Yea well look on the bright side, the sooner I go then the sooner I get back" Rory said attempting a smile.

"Mmm yea... so... well we should start packing then" Lorelai said, suddenly one of the few times in her life where she had been stuck for something to say.

"No we have to spend some quality 'family' time together" Rory said as she looked between her mom and dad, she really did want to spend some time together before they left, there had been so much drama the last few days and she really wanted to enjoy her last night. "I can pack later tonight, I've already made a list of everything that I will need for the trip so I just need to put it all in suitcase"

"Ok that sounds good, Chris and I were talking about going to a biker bar and getting drunk, fun for the whole family, what d'ya say?" Lorelai asked trying to lighten the mood and cheer herself up, she wanted Rory to enjoy her last night at home before she left. She was going to have to spend the next month with her grandmother, 'I wouldn't wish that on anyone' she thought to herself.

"Sounds like a plan, can we go to Luke's for dinner before, I think I might need a full stomach before I go out drinking" Rory asked, she wanted to get dinner at Luke's, something familiar before she left for Europe, her grandma would probably make her eat loads of fancy stuff there she thought.

"You wanna go to Luke's?" Lorelai asked

"Yea, I haven't been there in 2 days, I think I'm getting withdrawal symptoms" Rory said as she lifted her hand and shook it gently, "See, getting the shakes. Plus I wanna see Luke and say goodbye before I go" she added.

'"Oh ok we'll go to Luke's then"

"Sounds good" Chris added.

* * *

Later Chris, Lorelai and Rory entered Luke's. Lorelai was wearing a black knee length skirt with black boots and a tight black jumper, something about tonight made her want to wear black she thought, plus she wanted to make more of an effort since Luke would see her, stupid idea it was since he saw her everyday. Rory was wondering why her mom had been so indecisive about what to wear but figured she was just weird because of her leaving the next day.

"Ok you two, go and grab a table, preferably one near a radiator" Lorelai said shivering.

Luke had seen the three of them come in, he couldn't help but stare at Lorelai for a few seconds longer than normal as he noticed what she was wearing, grinning slightly at the thought of them in the storage room earlier that day. She said something to the other two and walked towards the counter, she smiled nervously at him.

"Hey" he said smiling

"Hi"

"Recovered from earlier?" she whispered smiling as she watched him roll his eyes.

"Yes I managed, Coffee?" he asked trying to change the subject

"Actually we'll have three menu's please, we're out celebrating or in my case getting blind drunk to forget everything, so I want you to stick some vodka in my coffee, thanks" she said winking at him.

"Why what's happened?" he said suddenly concerned

"Rory is leaving for to spend a month in Europe with her Grandmother tomorrow" Lorelai said quietly as she sighed and thought about how weird it would be not to have her around the house during the summer. Even when she was at Yale Lorelai and her would talk all the time and it wasn't too far to drive if something happened...now there would be a whole continent between them. She could feel the tears start to come to her eyes at the thought of it so she tried to take her mind off it.

"What? When did this happen?" he asked shocked, he thought she was going to say something about the Inn or something happened with her parents which was usually the case but he could see she was upset about it.

"Just decided today" she said quickly as she stood there for a moment staring at the counter "but anyway I better get back there before they think we are having an affair and are planning our next secret rendezvous in the storage room" she said smiling wickedly at him, she grabbed the menus and winked at him before she walked back to her table.

About forty-five later they were just finishing their pie when Rory called Luke over to say goodbye. He grumbled as he walked over, though both Rory and Lorelai knew that he loved Rory and gladly do anything for her, he just wanted to be 'manly' and pretend it bothered him.

"I just wanted to say goodbye before I go, I'll miss you Luke and I hope you will give me and mom lots and lots of coffee when I get home as a welcome home gift" she said grinning.

"We'll see" he said gruffly and then gave her a small grin.

"Thanks" she got up and hugged him, he was surprised but hugged her back, clearly embarrassed at this public form of affection.

"Aw aren't we a walking Kodak moment" Lorelai said laughing, that was cute though she had to admit, she was glad that Rory and Luke had a good relationship. She noticed Chris sitting at the table awkwardly as he looked at Rory hugging Luke, she could see a glint of jealousy in his eyes.

"Whatever" Luke said gruffly as he walked back to the counter with a tiny grin on his face but careful not to let anyone see it.

"Ok well we're should get going if we're gonna catch this movie" Chris said getting up.

"O yeah we should go" Rory said as she stood up.

"Yeah you two go on out and I'll meet you at the car, I'll get the bill" Lorelai said quickly to them. She waited until they left and then walked up to the counter waiting for Luke to finish taking the order.

"Hey can I have two coffees to go" she asked as she placed the dinner money on the counter.

"Sure" he said as he turned round to get the coffee.

"What? No argument?" she asked mockingly

"You want one or not?" he grunted.

"Ok Mr grumpy, Coffee and a favour"

"What's the favour?" he asked, thinking it would probably be one of her stupid requests.

"Well I wondering if I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night?" she said smiling flirtatiously at him.

"Are you cooking?"

"No, I thought we could go out but if you don't want to that's fine, I'm sure I can pick up some guy called Big Frank at a Biker Bar and I'll take him home and we can...well y'know" she grinned as he rolled his eyes.

"Interesting name? But unlucky for him I would like to have dinner with you, on one condition though?" he said, he was pleased that they were going to have some time alone.

"Well I don't think that Big Frank is into threesomes but I could ask!" she said smiling as he rolled his eyes again.

"Can I take you out instead?" he said. He wanted to be able to pick her up, do all the usual stuff that guys do on dates.

"Well if that's what you want? Pick me up at 7?"

"I'll see you then"

"Look forward to it" she said as she walked towards the door taking one last look round to see him still smiling at her, she smiled shyly back at him and walked out. She was so glad that all this stuff with Luke was happening, it was good for trying to keep her mind off the fact that her daughter was leaving tomorrow, then she frowned as she walked out.


	6. Missed Chances & Hard Goodbye's

**CHAPTER 6: Missed Chances & Hard Goodbye's**

Later back at the Gilmore residence...

"Jeez ... there are books in Europe too ya know? Lorelai said as she looked at all the books that Rory had put in her suitcase. It was late but they were almost finished packing. Chris was in the living room watching TV, he had helped with the packing for a while but he stopped when they got on to all the girly stuff.

"What you thinking' hon?" Lorelai asked as she watched Rory who was sitting on her bed staring into outer space.

"Nothing, it's gonna be weird it just being me and grandma y'know?"

"Yes well you have my sympathies"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad"

"Yea she likes you so it probably won't be, whereas if I had been me, I would probably be trying to throw myself off the Eiffel Tower within a few days... actually more like within a few hours – but then again I would never be crazy enough to put myself through the torture anyway" Lorelai said and shivered at the thought of having to spend a month with her mother.

"So what are you going to do when I'm away?" Rory said

"Well firstly pray for your sanity, because hell that woman would drive the Pope crazy, maybe you should introduce them when you're in Italy actually, just to see how long he lasts before he runs out screaming, I bet it wouldn't be long" Lorelai said and grinned.

"We'll see, so you have anything else planned besides the praying? Rory asked

"I think the Inn will keep me busy mostly", maybe this would be a good time to tell Rory about her and Luke she thought, "um Rory" she said as she fiddled with the lace on one of Rory's t-shirts she was packing.

"Yea?" Rory said as she moved things about in her case.

"You know the way I wasn't sure if I was dating Luke"

"Uh huh" Rory said glancing up.

"...well we are definitely dating now." Lorelai said as she looked up and grinned at Rory.

"Really? Why what happened?" Rory said as she suddenly looked up.

"Well we kinda kissed at the Inn ... and we are going to go out for dinner" Lorelai said still smiling.

"Wow!"

"Are you okay with it? Rory if it is too weird for you then I won't date Luke" Lorelai said quickly as she suddenly turned serious, a rare occurrence.

"No mom I'm totally fine with it, I mean you two have been flirting for years, it's not like it's a total shock" Rory said laughing.

"What?! We so haven't!" Lorelai said as if shocked by the accusation.

"Mom c'mon, you so have!"

"Fine maybe a tiny bit" Lorelai said as she grinned wickedly.

"Ok well you better keep my informed, I don't wanna come back from Europe to find out that you two ran off to Vegas and got married" Rory said smiling at her mom.

"Hon, chill, you are only gone for a month ... it'll probably be two months before we run to Vegas anyway" Lorelai said smiling.

"I'm gonna miss you sweets" Lorelai said as she moved to sit on the bed beside Rory.

"Yea me too mom" Rory said as she moved to hug her mom.

About half an hour later they both emerged from Rory's bedroom, it was just after 1am as they walked into the living room to see Chris lying sleeping on the couch.

"Maybe we should head to bed now too, you'll probably need all your strength with Emily tomorrow" Lorelai whispered.

"Yea goodnight mom, thanks for helping me pack, Love you"

"Love you too hon" Lorelai said as she walked Rory to her room and hugged her goodnight.

* * *

The next morning Lorelai woke up early, she hadn't got a lot of sleep the night before she had so many thoughts running through her head. She lay in bed for a few minutes before she got up, as she walked downstairs she saw that Chris and Rory were still asleep, no wonder she thought, it was only 7am! She made some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, she was on her third cup by the time Christopher woke up and came into the kitchen.

"Morning" she said brightly as she handed him a cup of coffee. He had a sip and then pulled a face at her.

"Yuck, how strong is that?!"

"Approximatley half a bag of coffee to a cup of water, it would have been stronger but I ran out of coffee, I usually have a spare batch but I haven't been to the market in a few days".

"Oook then" he said laughing.

"So what time are you heading back?

"Well when are you gonna throw me out?" he said laughing.

"I tried last night but I couldn't move you, ease up on those pies" she said.

They heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen as Rory entered looking exhausted.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, you not get much sleep either?" Lorelai said to Rory.

"Nope not really, I'll get some sleep on the plane hopefully"

"Yes if you tie Emily to a seat and stuff a sock in her mouth I'm sure you will get plenty of sleep... if you do that though send me a Polaroid, I can stick it on the fridge!" Lorelai said in an excited voice as she jumped about in the chair.

"You're terrible" Rory said with a frown.

"I love you too hon" Lorelai said.

At 10.47am Rory had all the belongings sitting by the front door and she was all set and ready to go. The three of them were sitting in the living room talking about the trip when the doorbell rang.

"I have another 13minutes! – I swear that woman does that on purpose" Lorelai said loudly as she went to answer the door. She opened it and smiled out at her mother, "Hi mom" she said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Is that any way to talk about your mother Lorelai? I am here early so that we would be ready to leave at 11" Emily said in a disgruntled tone.

"Hi grandma" Rory said, she knew that her mom was in a bad enough mood because of her leaving already, she didn't think it was such a good idea that her and grandma fight as well. So as usual Rory acted like the buffer.

"Hello Rory, so are you excited? I am, we have so many things that we must do! I have been looking to introduce you to my friends in Paris for a long time and now I'll get my chance".

"O god help you poor girl" Lorelai mumbled.

"Did you say something Lorelai" she said frowning as she turned to look at her. Just before Lorelai could say something back Christopher came over.

"Hello Emily" Chris said politely.

"Why Christopher, I didn't know you were here?"

"Yes well it wasn't planned, I just stopped in for a few days" he said smiling at Emily.

"Well that's very nice of you. Emily gave Lorelai a copy of their itinerary and the three of them spoke for about fifteen minutes about the trip. "Anyway Rory I think we should get going if we are going to get to the airport on time. James will bring your bags to the car" Emily said as she walked over to the front door to usher James in, then she walked back over to Rory, Christopher and Lorelai who were standing in the middle of the living room.

"Oh ok" Rory said as she turned to mom, she could feel the tears building up in her eyes, she didn't want to cry in front of her mom though, she knew she hated to see her cry. She turned to her dad and gave him a hug and kiss, "I'll send you a postcard dad, I'll miss you, say hello to Georgina from me". Rory then turned to Lorelai and could see the tears in her eyes.

"I love you mom, I'll miss you and I'll call as often as I can. Good Luck with Luke, he's great" she whispered into her mom's ear so noone else could hear.

"Love you sweets and you better call or I'm gonna hijack a plane and fly around Europe to find you" she said smiling at her as her eyes welled up with tears.

"I'll look forward to it" Rory said as she picked up her small backpack off the sofa. Lorelai had her arm round her shoulder as they walked outside to the car where Emily and Chris were waiting by the car. Rory turned to hug her mom again before walking over to the car to give her dad a last hug, Lorelai felt her eyes welling up with tears as she watched Rory get in the car and drive off. Christopher came over and put his arm round her as they stood for a few minutes just looking down the street to where the car had gone. She turned to Chris and burst into tears as she hugged him tightly.

"I can't believe she's gone" Lorelai said crying.

"She'll be back before you know it Lor, and she said she's gonna call you as often as she can" he said trying to comfort her, he hated seeing her cry, she was usually so bright and cheery so it was hard to see her so down.

"I know but it's still hard" she said as she slowly stopped crying and turned and walked back into the house. It was going to be so weird not to be able to see Rory or talk to her whenever she wanted, even when she had went to Yale Lorelai had always known that she could visit anytime she wanted....it wasn't like that now.

A few hours later Lorelai and Chris sat on the porch outside the Gilmore house. She had come back from the Inn for a little while just so she could say goodbye to Chris before he left.

"So suppose you have to go now then?" Lorelai said, disappointed in a way because she would have no company around the house, it had been good to have him around the house the last few days, she knew that Rory had enjoyed it as well.

"You know Lor, I don't have to go?" Chris said, he wanted to stay here with her for a bit longer, he had missed her.

"Well you have to go home sometime" Lorelai said confused.

"Yea I know but I could stay a few extra days if you want" he said hoping she would know what he was talking about.

Suddenly the phone rang and Lorelai ran to answer it. 'Damn that phone' Chris thought to himself as he watched her go to answer it. She returned a few minutes later, she was wearing her jacket now which obviously meant that she had to run off somewhere.

"I gotta go Chris, they really need me at the Inn. There's a problem with the linen delivery"

"Oh ok, well I'm gonna head now too then"

"Right okay, but call me later and let me know you got home okay" she said giving him a hug and quick kiss before she got in her car and he waited for her to leave before he got in his own. 'I missed my chance... again' he thought as he sat there for a minute, then he started the car and started on his journey home. 'Can I walk away from this...Can I walk away from her again?' he thought...

* * *

Hey I hope you're liking the story so far, it's my first ever one so it's a whole new experience! Don't say goodbye to Chris quite yet! I'll have the next few chapters up by next week hopefully. Please review :)


	7. Big Dates

**CHAPTER 7: Big Dates...**

Later that night, around 6.55pm Lorelai was running around trying to get ready for her date with Luke, she had put on her new black dress, it accentuated her figure nicely as it showed all her curves to perfection, her hair was straight and she was just finishing her make-up when the doorbell rang. "Dammit for being on time, don't you know that 7pm really means 7.10 at least?" she said out loud.

"I'll be right there" she shouted down the stairs loud enough so that he heard it. Two minutes later she opened the door breathless as she had run down the stairs, almost tripping on the last stair. She looked out at Luke, he was wearing black trousers with a tight black sweater covered with a black jacket. He had also shaved and had combed his hair, 'he must like me if he gets dressed up like this' she said to herself.

"Hi" she said nervously as she smiled and welcomed him into the house.

"Hey" he said grinning. He looked her up and down as he smiled, 'She sure has made an effort' he thought, she looked really beautiful...as always' he thought.

"Well aren't we very G Q tonight" she said raising an eyebrow.

"You look great Lorelai"

"Thanks" she said smiling at him.

"Ok let me grab my bag and then I'm ready to go" she said.

"Ok" he said as he stood in the hall while she grabbed her bag. She walked back out to him a few seconds later with her bag.

"Ready?" she asked

"Yup's let's go" she said as she headed out behind Luke to his car. 'God this was so weird' she thought, for the first time she didn't know what to say to him.

"So where are we going?" she asked a few minutes later when they were in the car.

"It's a surprise" he said

"Biker Bar?"

"Nope"

"Theme park?"

Nope

"Oh I got it – starbucks!"

"Um let me think – no!"

"Give me a clue!"

"Can't you just wait?" Luke said as he rolled his eyes.

"No, so at least give me a clue" Lorelai said smiling at him.

"Ok the clue is...you'll like it"

"Well duh I would hope that for our date you would bring me someplace I liked!"

They drove along for a while in silence, they were obviously both nervous, in the diner they were comfortable talking to each other, but here it was out of their usual environment. Twenty minutes Luke pulled up to an Italian restaurant in Hartford.

"Ooh nice"

"Yes well it has healthy food as well as some of that junk crap you eat so I thought it would be suitable" he said gruffly.

"Aw Luke you're so romantic" she said in a mocking voice as she rolled her eyes. She linked her arm through his as they walked into the restaurant.

Half an hour later they were eating their main course. She was eating spaghetti Bolognese, with a side order of fries and he was eating a pasta dish with a side order of salad, of course. The conversation was going smoothly as they just talked like they normally would do, she looked really good in that dress he kept thinking, occasionally he let his gaze drift to her low-cut neckline.

"You wanna try some of mine? We could totally do that thing with the spaghetti that the two dogs do in Lady and the Tramp and meet in the middle of eating the same spaghetti string... except not pushing the meatball with the nose, because this is a fancy place... and I don't wanna get anything on my dress – c'mon it'll be fun" Lorelai said as she held out her fork in his direction.

"Um no thanks that's fine I'll pass" Luke said rolling his eyes.

"Ook, but you're missing out" '

"I'm sure I will live" Luke said.

They finished their main course about twenty minutes later.

"You want dessert?" she said

"Well actually I kinda have another surprise for you after this so don't have any dessert" he said with a small nervous grin on his face.

"Ooh I'm intrigued – Give me a clue" she asked a wicked grin on her face.

"Lorelai, the whole meaning behind surprise is that you don't know about it" he said sternly.

"Fine" she pouted. "I gotta go to the ladies room be right back"

As Lorelai went to the bathroom Luke paid the bill and waited for her at the front. He was looking forward to the second part of the date most, he hoped that she would like it too. She emerged a few minutes later and they left in the car, about ten minutes later after a whole ten minutes of Lorelai waffling on about why he should tell her where they were going they arrived at their destination.

"Oh my god Luke this is so cool" she screamed as she looked out. There were at a drive in movie of Charlie and the Chocolate factory, it was due to start in five minutes as he checked his watch.

"I knew you wouldn't be full from dinner so I brought you some stuff to rot your insides with" he said as he lifted a paper bag out of the back seat and grinned at her. She turned to him and smiled widely, god he was so amazing, she never knew he would go to all this trouble for her, but she loved that he had put effort into their date. The movie started a few minutes later, they both sat there watching it, they were both waiting for the other to make the first move.

"This is so great Luke, thanks" she said genuinely as she turned to him and smiled.

"You're worth it" he said as he fiddled with his shirt, showing he was nervous. A few minutes later he put his arm around the back of her seat, as he did she moved closer to him so that her head was leaning on his shoulder. He let his arm hang over her shoulder, inching it closer to her until he had his arm behind her head with one hand on her shoulder. He gently started to run his fingers up and down her arm softly, she loved him doing it and feeling him touch her so gently, 'Who would have thought Mr Macho could be so gentle?' she thought.

"You want one?" Lorelai said as she ate a red vine and held one up to Luke's face.

"No, do you know what the companies put in that stuff?" he said sternly.

"They are really good though so who cares" she said with wide eyes and a smile as she looked at the bag of red vines she had sitting on her lap.

"Well that's why I got them for you and not me"

"It should be a crime to watch 'Charlie and the chocolate factory' and not eat junk food" she said indignantly.

"Yes well in the insane world of you maybe it is but here in the real world, you may have visited once or twice that would be a stupid law" he said.

"Don't mock" she shot back as she put her head on his shoulder and turned back to watch the film. She took his hand and laced her fingers of her hand round his and he squeezed her hand gently. About an hour later the film ended, they knew they should leave but they were both so comfortable sitting there together.

"So I was thinking, maybe we should keep this between us for a while, you know what people in Stars Hollow are like with gossip...I think there would be town banners put up with this kind of news...maybe even a festival dedicated to it – how cool would that be though!" Lorelai said to Luke.

"Yea...crazy fools... I think that would be best though, none of their business anyway"

"Hehe....so we will we having an secret illicit affair" she said wearing her wicked grin.

"Yea I guess so" he said grinning.

"Well you know I live next door to Babette and if she sees you kiss me goodnight I think that will be the end of the whole 'secret' affair thing so I don't think we can do that"

"Ok" he said in a casual voice.

"Oh so you're not even disappointed then? Well Mister you're missing out, ask Big Frank he'll tell ya" Lorelai said still smiling.

"God not him again" Luke said rolling his eyes, he turned to Lorelai and used his arm that was around her to put his hand on her neck and pull her in as he kissed her passionately on the lips and pulled back and grinned at her.

"Wow where did that come from?"

"Well didn't want Babette to ruin that part of the night for me" he said grinning.

"You are full of surprises tonight burger boy" she said, he turned his head away from her and rolled his eyes. She moved her hand and turned his face back towards hers and kissed him softly on the lips before he used his hand to pull her in again. He moved his other hand down to her waist as he tried to pull her body closer to his, he slipped his tongue into her mouth gently caressing her tongue, she let out a tiny moan.

"Damn gearstick" Luke said, which was in the way of him getting closer to Lorelai.

"Oh Dirty"

"I knew you were going to say that" he said grinning.

"Oh so you're on to my wicked ways?" she said smiling wickedly. "Well it's getting pretty late so maybe we should head back anyway – it could be Gearo's way of telling us" she said, not really wanting to end such a good night but she didn't really trust herself to stay there with him.

"Who is Gearo or do I even want to know?" he said gruffly as he rolled his eyes.

"The gearstick – duh Luke"

"Yeah of course it is – what a stupid question to ask" he said sarcastically as he put on his seatbelt.

"Luke?" He turned around to look at her when she put her hands on his face and leaned in and kissed him softly before pulling back to smile at him.

"What was that for?" he asked grinning. 'She looks amazing, tonight has been great and apart from the initial nervousness everything had been comfortable between us, not to mention how great a kisser she is' he thought to himself.

"For taking me out on such a great date" Lorelai said, she really didn't think that Luke had it in him, 'Well I suppose I didn't know he could Waltz either but he's great at that...mm wonder what other surprises I have in store with him' she thought to herself.

"So you would wanna go out again then maybe?"

"I'm sure you could twist my arm" she said as he started the car. They drove for a while talking, often there would be comfortable silences between them, 'I have never been on such a good first date before' they both thought.

"So I was thinking..." Lorelai said

"Uh-Oh" Luke said gruffly.

"Shush...so since we are having this big secret affair, which by the way if I haven't told you is so fun... we should have code names. I was thinking I could be Pink Panther and you could be Daffy Duck... oh no I got it, I could be Wonder Woman and you could be spiderman, or superman. Personally I think Superman is sexier but whatever you like, that way in case anyone intercepts our phone calls they won't find out about us!" Lorelai said, clearly excited by the prospect of code names.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Yes because in Stars Hollow the interceptions of phone calls are so common"

"Well you can never be too careful burger boy" Lorelai said grinning.

"Stop calling me that – I think we should just stick with Luke & Lorelai don't you?".

"Fine Mr. Boring" she said and then grinned, "Luke & Lorelai, kinda has a nice ring to it".

"Yea it does" he said as he grinned at her.

A short while later they reached Stars Hollow...

"So how should we do this?" Luke asked.

"Dirty" she said as she watched him roll his eyes, I wonder how many times he rolls his eyes at me a day... a lot I think she thought.

"I meant will I leave you home because you know what Babette is like"

"No it's pretty later, she'll be in bed by this time anyway"

"Good so I'll drive you then" he said, he wanted to be able to leave her at her house, walk her to the door and do all the usual guy stuff.

"Cool because walking is so not an option in these shoes, any slightly long distance could cause internal damage – I tell ya, you sure gotta pay a price for fashion these days"

"Well why would you buy shoes that you can't walk in? Oh and I wouldn't worry about the internal damage, I think the amount of coffee you drink and crap you eat has already done more damage than walking from here to Mexico wearing those shoes!" he said in his usual tone that he spoke in when he mocked her.

"Aw well there's the Luke I'm used to" she said as they pulled up to her house.

"What the hell?" Lorelai said loudly, she jumped out of Luke's car and walked quickly across the lawn towards the Volvo parked in the driveway.

"Christopher are you okay? Is Rory okay?" Lorelai asked in a concerned tone with a worried and confused impression on her face.

"Yes don't worry everyone's fine... I just needed to talk to you" he said as he looked her and admired how great she looked in that dress.

"How long have you been waiting?

"Just over an hour or so. I got us some pizza but when you didn't turn up after half an hour I got hungry".

"Well c'mon tell me what's up, it must be pretty important for you to drive all the way back out here to tell me. Oh my god, you're not dying are you?" she said still with a concerned look on her face and confused about what he wanted to tell her.

"No Lor I'm not dying. Can we go inside and talk about this?" he asked. He really didn't want to be outside when he told her and he could feel Luke boring a hole into his head.

"Um okay sure, you can't drive all the way home tonight anyway, you go inside, I'll be right there" she said as she turned round and made her way back to Luke's truck. It was annoying her wondering what Chris wanted to tell her, she didn't know what to tell Luke, she knew that Chris made Luke insecure.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked.

"Yea, Chris just really needs to talk to me about something, dunno what yet" she said frowning, "Sorry but thanks for tonight, I had a really good time" she said as she put her hand on his before saying goodnight and walking into the house.

Luke watched her walk back up to the house and sat for a minute in the car, 'What was that about?' he thought as so many questions entered his mind and scenarios to why Chris might be here. He saw the way he looked at her when they were talking and he could think of only one, there's was a certain way guys look at women when they're in love and he could see it in Chris's eyes.

Luke picked up all the sweet papers from the front seat of the car that Lorelai had been eating and put them back in the paper bag, then he started to reverse the truck, just before driving off he glanced back through the mirror, he did a double take as he saw the two figures in the living room. He saw Chris and Lorelai standing by the window and suddenly Chris grabbed Lorelai and kissed her hard on the lips.

"What the hell?" Luke said angrily as he gripped the steering wheel and turned away from what he had just seen, 'Chris is only there for two minutes and they're already kissing' he said out loud as he revved up the engine and sped off down the street...


	8. The End of the Affair?

_Hey everyone, sorry it took me over a week to post the last chapter, I was away in Spain! Anyway I hope y'all all liking it, thanks everyone who has reviewed, you don't know how good it feels to see people like my writing! So please keep reviewing so I know there are people still reading it. Feel free to email me at __, I have just made a Luke/Lorelai music video which I could send to anyone who would like to see it. The next chapter will be posted within a few days! Enjoy : )._

**CHAPTER 8: The End of the Affair?**

Lorelai walked into her house to find Chris, anxious to know what was going on with him, it was weird him just showing up because he knew Rory was away. The last few days had been great with him but there was something different about the way he acted with her, she didn't quite know what it was. She walked into the living room to where he was standing, he was looking at a picture of her and Rory that had been sitting on the window sill, it had been taken years ago at one of the town festivals.

"So what's up Chris?" she asked frowning as she walked towards him, she glanced out the window and saw Luke doing something in his truck.

"I don't know how to say this Lorelai, after everything I have put both you and Rory through ... I've had a really good time staying the past few days" he said to her, almost in a desperate voice and looked at her, she looked confused, she obviously didn't know what he was trying to tell her.

"Chris you may as well be speaking Chinese here, what are you trying to say?" she asked raising her eyebrow, she had no idea why he was here and he didn't seem to be making things any clearer for her.

They were both standing beside the window, less than a meter away from each other. Suddenly Chris stepped forward and pulled Lorelai towards him by the waist and he kissed her hard on the lips. It took her a few seconds before she pulled back and looked at him, with a confusing frown on her face.

"What the hell was that Chris?" she asked loudly, confused and also a bit annoyed. She heard a loud noise as she turned to look out the window at Luke's truck tearing down the street. 'O God, did he see that?' she wondered.

"Look Lor, I know that I'm the last person that should be asking you this, and it's totally out of the blue... I've regretted everyday that I walked out on you after Sookie's wedding, I just didn't want to lose another daughter and not see her grow up you know? I love you Lorelai, you're the only one for me, I know that now... I'm asking is for you to give me another shot to have a family with you and Rory" he said in a desperate voice, before she interrupted him.

"God Chris" she said loudly as she sat down on the sofa and covered her eyes. "Why now Chris? You left me and Rory again to make a new family with someone else, you can't really be asking me for this right now?" she said as she got louder, 'This is unbelievable' she thought.

"Did you not feel it in the kiss Lor, I know we still have something there!" he said sitting down beside her on the sofa not letting his eyes leave her for a second.

"Chris, I think that will always be there, I will always love you but not in the same way as before, I moved on" she said, she was gentler now, she felt sorry for Chris because she did know that he loved her, she could see it in his eyes.

"It would be different this time, I really want this. To have a proper family with you Lor" he said holding her arm and looking at her with those puppy eyes that just went straight to her heart, he would always be able to do that to her.

"Chris you have a family, Sherry and Georgia are you're family, Rory and I are a family. I can't do this again Chris, I moved on from 'us' and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do" Lorelai said as she could feel the tears in her eyes welling up.

Is it Luke?" he asked looking at the floor not wanting to show the hurt in his eyes, he had so many regrets, he had lost her for good and he knew it. He saw something in Lorelai he hadn't seen in her before, she was different with Luke than she had been with anyone else and it scared him.

"I'm not sure" she said honestly, she felt stuff for Luke she had never felt before, was it love?

"But he makes you happy?" Chris asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Yea he does" she said giving him a small smile. She needed to speak to him, she had a really bad feeling in her stomach that he had seen Chris kissing her. 'Damn Chris really did have perfect timing!'

"Okay, well I don't think I can say anything else to change your mind, but I really do want you to be happy Lorelai" he said quietly as he turned his gaze to her and away from the floor.

"I know you do Chris" she said as she patted his hand.

They sat for a few moments in silence, neither knowing what to say to each other, Chris broke the awkward silence, "Ok well I should get going then" he said as he slowly got up from the sofa, he felt like he had just been punched in the stomach, 'This must have been what she felt like at Sookie's wedding – except worse' he thought.

"Chris, look at the time, you can't drive back now – I won't let you! God knows what kind of psychos are out at this time of night" she said sternly but still with a small smile she said as she walked upstairs and came down a few minutes later with blankets.

* * *

A while later they both went to bed. Lorelai lay awake for a while, worrying about Luke and what he had seen, she didn't want it to have wrecked everything between them. She picked up the phone and dialled his number...

"Hello" came a gruff reply.

"Hey" she said.

"What do you want Lorelai?" he said snappily.

"Well what's with the attitude?"

"Like you don't know exactly what I'm annoyed about"

"Yea I do, Chris kissed me, he wants to get back together and be a family with me and Rory" she said quickly, holding her breath waiting for his reply.

"Good for him. Congratulations. Is that it?"

"Luke would you wait, I wasn't finished, I told him it was over and I had moved on"

"Was that before or after the kiss I saw, that you didn't seem to back away from"

"Luke I just told you he kissed me, it's not my fault I look so kissable in this new dress" she said attempting a joke to lighten the mood.

"Yea well I hope you're happy together, I gotta go, bye" he said as he hung up the phone leaving Lorelai surprised, confused and annoyed that all this had happened. Why hadn't he even given her a chance? She thought angrily as she slammed the phone down on the bedside table. Every time they seemed to be getting somewhere something happened to throw them off track, both times it had been because of Chris.

* * *

The next morning Lorelai woke up early, she hadn't slept much the night before and really wanted to get things sorted with Luke before they got out of control. She put on her dressing gown and walked down the stairs to see Chris packing up.

"Going so early?"

"Yea well I thought it was for the best, don't you?" he said awkwardly.

"Okay well have a safe trip... and Chris?

"Yea?" he said looking back at her from the door.

"I know it's not the same but I'm always going to love and care about you, we have a special bond ya know, and I hope we can still be pals?"

"Sure – and I hope Luke makes you happy, I'll be on the road back here if he doesn't" he said smiling slightly.

"Yea well hopefully there is still an 'us' but thanks" she said as she walked to the door to watch Christopher leave. She finally felt as if she had gotten closure after everything that had happened at the wedding, it was definitely the end of an era for them both though.

* * *

Chris knew that Luke knew everything that had happened between them the night before, or not happened as the case may be. He had gone up to use the bathroom and heard Lorelai on the phone to him, it didn't seem to have gone too well. He felt bad that he had messed it up for them for no reason, she didn't feel the same and he had to deal with that. As he was driving through Stars Hollow he saw Luke's and decided that maybe if he told Luke that nothing had happened between them that maybe he could fix things a bit, he had done a lot of wrong things in the past regarding Lorelai and he wanted to be able to fix something.

Luke had been pouring coffee when he saw Chris enter the diner, he gritted his teeth as he frowned and stared at him sternly, 'This guy has a damn nerve' Luke thought. Chris walked up to the counter to Luke, not sure exactly what to say but he thought he should at least say something.

"One coffee thanks" Chris said. Luke grabbed a coffee mug and poured him a coffee, not taking his eyes off him for a second and slamming the mug down in front of him.

"That's $1" he said through gritted teeth.

"Look man, I just wanted to say sorry about last night, it's over with us now, she assured me of that and I just want her to be happy and if that's with you then I'm gonna have to deal with that" he said and sighed as he looked into his coffee.

"Well she was happy until you came back" he said snappily, he really just wanted to punch Chris right now but he decided against it, he always managed to mess things up with them. He didn't care how bad he was feeling, he knew that Chris would always manage to drive a wedge between him and Lorelai and he hated that he had that power.

"Okay well I just wanted to tell you, she did nothing wrong so just give her a break...she deserves to be treated right after everything that's happened in the past" he said remembering all the stuff that she went through, how she had brought up Rory alone with barely any help from him, her broken engagement, when he had left her at Sookie's wedding, and even all the hassle she's been through with her parents.

"Don't you dare tell me how to treat her, I'll treat her a lot better than you ever have" he said bitterly, his voice increasing in volume with every word. Luckily there were only a few in the diner at this stage and most were from out of town anyway. Chris picked up his coffee, left money on the counter and left the diner quickly without saying anything back to Luke, he didn't know what he could say, he hadn't exactly treated Lorelai the best throughout the years.

* * *

At lunch time later that day Lorelai entered the diner, she was on her lunch break from the Inn and wanted to get things sorted with Luke, she was in a bad mood because she had been thinking about it all day, Luke too had been a lot grumpier than usual that morning.

"Caesar where's Luke?" Lorelai shouted.

"He just ran upstairs for a sec"

"Thanks" Lorelai said as she walked across the diner and made her way up the stairs to see Luke. She walked into his apartment to find him looking into the closet wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt. She stood for a second to admire his physique before coughing to get his attention as she saw him jump slightly before he turned round to see her. He grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and pulled it over his head before saying.

"What is it now?" he said in annoyance he said as he attempted to walk past her before she stepped in front of him.

"Luke, slow down, would you just listen to me?"

"I don't wanna hear it right now, I'm busy" he said gruffly fixing his shirt being careful not to look at her, he knew he was being stubborn but the whole 'Chris' thing really got to him.

"I can see how you're wardrobe is such a time filler for you, the eternal question, which flannel will I wear today" she said sarcastically trying in vain to get him to talk to her.

"Yea well I'm goin' back down now" he said as he put on a flannel shirt and adjusted the collar, carefully making sure that he avoided eye contact with her.

"Why are you being such a jerk? I told you that Chris kissed me, which I stopped and I told him it was over, why won't you just accept that?" she shouted angrily.

"Lorelai I need to get down to the diner" he said walking away from her.

"So you're not even gonna talk about this"

"No I'm busy"

"You know what Luke, take all the damn time you need because we both know this wasn't my fault, Chris and I have more history between us than you know, but I chose you... I must have been high or something because I can't think why right now" she shouted as she walked quickly past him and slammed the door behind her. She walked out of the diner, "Jeez did he have to be such a drama queen?" they both muttered. Lorelai went downstairs and quickly left the diner.

Luke was left standing there, surprised that Lorelai was annoyed at him, 'What the hell should she be annoyed about?' he said, he knew that he hadn't been fair with her but its not like this is just any guy they were fighting about, he was always there! When he had first went to kiss her she had jumped back a bit but when it was Chris she hadn't, what was that about?' he thought angrily. He walked down to the diner just in time to see Lorelai speed past in her jeep.

* * *

Two weeks later Lorelai entered the diner for the first time since their argument, she knew she was being stubborn but so was he, he had made no effort to contact her in two weeks. Sookie had asked to meet her for breakfast in Luke's because Jackson had Davie for the morning and she wanted to get out of the house for a while before she went to the Inn. It hadn't taken long for Sookie to persuade Lorelai to go, she knew about everything that had happened with Luke, she did feel for Luke but she agreed with Lorelai that he was being childish about it. Sookie wanted to get Lorelai to go into Luke's to give them a push into sorting out their little lover's tiff, she had been in a mood for the past couple of weeks and her and Michel couldn't handle it anymore.

"Hey hon" Sookie said brightly to Lorelai as she walked over to the table beside the table.

"Hi" Lorelai said, glancing around not seeing Luke around.

"It's okay he just went into the kitchen" Sookie said as she watched Lorelai look for Luke.

"I wasn't looking for him, I wanted to see if... Babette was here... I um saw a sale on garden gnomes that I thought she'd like" Lorelai said not looking Sookie in the eye, obviously lying, Sookie raised her eyebrow at Lorelai, they both knew exactly what Lorelai had been doing.

"Fine I was looking for Luke okay?" she said rolling her eyes and looking back down at her hands. It annoyed her that he hadn't even tried to get in touch with her, she thought they had something good starting... obviously not.

"Oh here he comes hon" Sookie said as she saw Luke heading towards them, Lorelai had her back to him but he was staring at her the whole way over, Lorelai didn't turn around to look at him.

"What do you want?" he asked taking out his pen and notepad and looking at Sookie.

"Umm... Eggs, toast and coffee – and maybe add just a little of the cinnamon to the..." she stopped as she saw Luke glaring at her, he hated when she tried to give him tips on how to cook.

"And you?" he said as he looked at Lorelai, they locked eyes for a second before they both turned and looked away, Luke at his pad and Lorelai at her hands as she fiddled with her fork. Sookie rolled her eyes as she saw their interaction.

"Jack omelette with bacon on the side and coffee" she said still fiddling with her fork.

"Ok" he said as he walked away towards the counter. 'How had it turned out this way? They had been going great... now they were like strangers. 'Why can't I just let this go?' he thought as he walked back to the counter. As he sorted out orders and poured coffee to the customers he caught a few glances of Lorelai but quickly looked away when he saw Sookie noticed his stare.

"So when do you think you two will get over this" Sookie asked with caution, it was a touchy subject.

"I dunno, whenever he bothers to care maybe" Lorelai said sharply.

"Lorelai, Luke has always loved you, he just got insecure about Chris"

"Maybe love is a bit strong" Lorelai said with doubt, he hadn't been in love with her had he?

"Are you kidding? It's always been there between you two, you just never saw it before, I saw how happy he was when he found out that the wedding was off, he was practically jumping" she said giggling.

"Yea well it's not like we're going anywhere now anyway so let's drop this" she said taking a long sip of her coffee as she glanced up as she saw Luke walking past her with some cups for a couple at the next table.

"Oook then, next topic"

Less than ten minutes later he carried the plates over to Lorelai and Sookie and gave them their food, refilling both their cups before turning and going back to the counter. They were both careful to avoid eye contact with each other as much as possible. About fifteen minutes later Lorelai's cell phone started ringing, she grabbed it out of her bag and stood up, "Be right back, don't wanna give Luke the satisfaction of telling me to get out. Apparently only lawyers have the right to talk on cell phones in here" she said as she got up and walked outside. Luke had been two tables away from her and heard exactly what she had said, it stung him when he heard it, wondering why he just hadn't swallowed his pride when she had told him what happened and not let it get this far.

Lorelai stepped outside and answered her phone.

"Mom?" said a distant voice.

"Rory, aw hon it's so good to speak to you, how's everything?" Lorelai said instantly cheering up.

"How is everything at home first-I really miss it!" Rory said

"Same old, Kirk got a new dog which he called Kirk the second, the cat must have been the first... remember that? Um Davie is getting really big, I'm actually having breakfast with Sookie right now. I think that's it, same old Stars Hollow – there's a festival on this weekend. Which of course I am going to"

"Wow, you'd think Kirk would learn about naming pets after himself. I'm in Germany at the minute, it's great, I found a really great book store with all these old books that are so hard to get, I'm talking about trying to find a needle in ten thousand haystacks" she said in an excited voice.

"Well whatever floats your boat hon, just stay away from any people wearing a swastika, don't listen to them if they ask you to join their group" Lorelai said smiling, she liked hearing Rory happy.

"I'll make a mental note. Grandma is in a better mood as well, she and Grandpa talked last night, it wasn't long but at least it was something right?"

"Yea that's great" Lorelai said genuinely happy that her parents were at least trying to communicate in some way... which was more than she could say for her and Luke.

"So how are things with Grandma, you running for the razor blades yet? Don't worry it's nothing to be ashamed of, I wouldn't have lasted this long"

"Actually we are getting along fine, I talked to her a bit about Dean and she can see why I need the time away" Rory said, not knowing what her mom's response to that would be.

"You talked to Emily about Dean?" Lorelai said slowly, shocked by Rory's calmness.

"Well not all of it, just a bit"

"Oh okay makes more sense now, well I'm glad you are having a good time sweets" Lorelai said, she missed Rory so much, she loved when she called.

"Yea well I gotta go, we're going to an art museum, grandma says it's one of the best in Europe"

"Have fun!" Lorelai said sarcastically, the idea of going to one of those places bored her, she had been dragged along when she was a kid and it was one of the most boring periods of her life!

"Love you mom, I'll call in a few days, bye" Rory said.

"Love you too hon, bye" Lorelai said before they both hung up. She was so glad that Rory hadn't asked about her and Luke, she didn't really know what to tell her because she didn't know herself. She knew that Rory would tell her to stop being stubborn and make up with him like she had before when they fought, but this time it was different. They would make up eventually but whether things would progress from there she didn't know, did she even want them to? Maybe it was better that they just stayed friends after all.


	9. Make or Break?

**CHAPTER 9: Make or Break **

Sookie sat inside the diner waiting for Lorelai to finish on the phone, she saw her excited face so she assumed she was speaking to Rory. Luke made his way over to the table, seeing that Lorelai wasn't there took his opportunity to check they didn't want anything else, he didn't want anymore awkward moments with her.

You done here?" Luke asked looking at Sookie.

"Well I think if you two don't get your act together this will be over before it has even started" Sookie said quietly as she looked at Luke.

"I meant about the food" he said gruffly.

"Fine Luke, if you wanna throw something away you have waited years for that's up to you, but I gotta tell you that you hurt her Luke" Sookie said looking at him with a serious face on, he was pretending not to be listening but she saw his face when she spoke, he wanted things to be right again he just didn't know what to do. "Just talk to her, you're both fools if you let this go, she picked you Luke" Sookie said raising her eyebrow.

"I can deal with this myself Sookie" Luke said in a short tone while picking up some dishes and walking back to the counter as she sighed and rolled her eyes, "Both as stubborn as each other" she mumbled to herself. Lorelai came back in the diner a few minutes later smiling, she walked over and sat at the table.

"Was that Rory?" Sookie asked.

"Yea it was, ah I miss her, can't wait till she gets back – hopefully Emily hasn't brainwashed her or warped her into something evil by the time she gets back"

"Yes because she is the devil Lorelai" Sookie said sarcastically.

"Maybe or just a close friend of the prince of darkness! Wouldn't surprise me, the only good thing about Rory being away is that I don't have to go through the hell of anymore Friday night dinners"

"So is she having a good time?" Sookie said before looking at her watch.

"Yea she is" Lorelai said smiling which turned to a frown before she said "mm... she's with Emily Gilmore and she's having a good time, yes there must be brainwashing going on"

"Aw hon I gotta go, I'm late for getting Davie off Jackson before I go to the Inn – Jackson will be mad, he has to go and play some music to his cabbages at exactly 11 and it's past then, he told me not to be late." Sookie said in a concerned voice.

"Sookie, you're always late, I'm sure if you go now it'll be fine, Jackson knows you by now and that means add another half an hour after the time you tell him you'll be there. Trust me it'll be fine, I'm sure the cabbages will survive".

"Am I that bad?"

"We all still love ya hon"

"Sheesh... I should really try and get better at that, it's just with cooking I never put a watch on so I don't know the time or I get distracted ya know when someone starts to mess up my pastries or when they add too much..." she said before Lorelai interrupted her.

"Sookie...Jackson" she said laughing.

"Oh yeah, bye see you at the Inn" Sookie said as she ran out the door of the diner leaving Lorelai sitting there drinking her now warmish coffee, she saw Luke come out of the kitchen as she turned to see Sookie leave, they looked at each other for a few seconds before Lorelai turned her head back. Luke walked in her direction, she thought he was finally coming over to talk to her, but when he reached her table he kept walking and went upstairs to his apartment. Angry that he was being so petty she gulped down the rest of her coffee and left the diner quickly, not giving him another chance to ignore her when he came back down.

Luke had been walking over to talk to Lorelai when he had suddenly chickened out and walked up to his apartment instead, he needed to decide what he was going to say to her first. He had acted like a bit of a jerk since the whole Chris thing but he couldn't seem to get past it, Chris would always be in her life, as Rory's father and her first love and he didn't know how to compete with that. She had chosen him though, why couldn't he have seen that two weeks ago? He decided what he was going to say to her and walked down to the diner, only to find that she had left. He was angry that he had missed another chance, who knows when she would next come into the diner he thought bitterly.

"Oh Luke just who I was looking for" Taylor said cheerily as he entered the diner.

"Get out Taylor!" Luke said loudly, not in the mood for Taylor and whatever crazy ideas he had planned for his stupid soda store.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say yet?" Taylor said in annoyance.

"It's all the same crap to me Taylor" Luke said huffily as he opened the door to usher Taylor out.

"This is no way to treat customers Luke, I will be bringing this up at the next town meeting" Taylor said as he walked out of the diner.

"Whatever Taylor" Luke said as he shut the door.

After that the day went slowly for both Luke and Lorelai, Luke continued in his bad mood and Lorelai just wasn't her usual self, since her fall out with Luke her caffeine intake had dramatically fallen which meant she was in a whole different mood all together. Why couldn't Sookie make coffee as good as Luke's?

* * *

The next night Lorelai was sitting at home watching TV when she heard a knock at the door, that must be the pizza she thought, 'Thank god I'm starved, thought I was going to die on this couch' she muttered as she ran to get her purse. She opened the door, still looking in her purse she heard what she had been wanting to hear for two weeks.

"Hi" Luke said nervously as he stood on her porch, he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, not his usual flannel. Lorelai jumped as she heard his voice.

"You're not Joe? Unless you invested in a lot of plastic surgery since last night"

"Can I come in?" he said as he stood awkwardly in her doorway.

"Um yea sure come in" she said, she was pleased he had finally come to talk but she was still annoyed that it had taken so long.

"I brought you some dinner, I didn't want you to starve" he said, he needed to say something, there was so much tension between them, he handed her the brown diner bag containing burger, fries and coffee and the hands touched briefly as Lorelai shivered just by the feeling she got when she touched him.

"Thanks" she said smiling slightly, there was an awkward silence for a few moments before she said, "So...I know you didn't just come here to bring me food, or are you starting a new psychic delivery service so that when you know I'm hungry you bring me food? Which I wouldn't turn down, it could be very handy actually... though you would probably have to stop working at the diner 'cos I'm almost always hungry" she rambled. She was still nervous around him, she didn't know what he was going to say or even what she would say back.

"No... I didn't... I'm not really good at this stuff but... I just wanna say I'm sorry about how I have treated you these past few weeks" he said looking down at his shoes.

"Ok thanks" she said, colder than she had meant it to be, she didn't know what to say so she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"So...what now?" he said, slightly taken back by her response.

"I dunno Luke, I mean we haven't been together for long or whatever it is we are... and already we're fighting, we've been friends for years ... and I'm not sure I wanna lose that, if this thing didn't work out I would hate to lose a boyfriend and best friend at the same time... not to mention a great coffee supplier" she said, smiling slightly at the last part before she went back to her frown.

"I know, neither do I, but we could give it another shot, I was just annoyed about Chris... he's just kinda hard to compete with" Luke said as he looked down at his feet, he didn't like to admit that he was jealous to her relationship with him, he was Rory's dad after all.

"It's not a competition... Luke I told him it was over for good, he's always going to be in my life but I didn't think I had to choose between you"

"You don't, I trust that it's over it's just hard for me to see you with him... it's like you're a family"

"I'm sorry if it looks that way but we are just friends. Luke can you just give me some time ... I just need to think okay?" Lorelai said confused, it was strange to hear Luke saying this to her, he seemed so vulnerable now which was so unlike him. She really needed to think this over and not rush into anything, it was complicated to move from friendship to something more.

"Ok...well I'll leave you to it" he said, hurt that it seemed all she wanted from him now was friendship too.

"I'll talk to you soon" she said as she closed the door behind her. She put her hands over her face and sighed loudly as she leaned against the door. This was all so much more complicated than she had ever imagined ... but it was so much better as well. Why was she trying to fight this? She thought. She really liked Luke, she had felt something with him that hadn't happened before, could she walk away from that? She imagined that it had been Rachel or Nicole that had come back and kissed Luke instead of Chris coming back, the thought of her made Lorelai feel... jealous. 'Wow' she thought, she knew then that she wanted more than friendship from Luke, she knew couldn't let this go. She turned around and flung open the front door which she had been leaning against and saw that Luke had already left.

"Dammit" she said out loud.

She stood for a few minutes on her porch deciding whether to just wait until tomorrow to see him but she knew she couldn't wait, she didn't realise just how much she had missed him during their brief time apart. She ran back inside and grabbed her keys and black jacket, she got in her car and made her way to Luke's.

* * *

It was closed as she had expected. She knocked the door but got no answer, his truck was outside so she knew he had come back, she threw a few small pebbles at his window. A face suddenly appeared at the window with an annoyed look on their face, Luke looked down and saw Lorelai standing looking up at him, she saw his face soften. He opened the window to her, she had another brief moment of Deja-Vu as she remembered the night she had stayed at Luke's after the Inn had burnt down.

"Oh ... hey" he said when he opened the window he said with a confused look on his facee.

"Let me in the back way" she shouted up to him.

"Oh... okay I'll be right down", he said confused at why she was here, he thought maybe she was just coming to check that they were still friends again. He walked down his apartment steps, into the kitchen and through to the store room, he walked to the back door which led to an alley around the back of the diner. He wasn't sure why she had wanted in the back way but he was too surprised by her visit to argue with her, not that it usually did much good anyway. He unlocked the two locks on the door and opened it to see Lorelai standing in the doorway. 

"Hi" he said raising an eyebrow as he looked at her, waiting for her to tell him what this was all about.

"So... I was thinking" she said as she smiled at him, he was so cute when he looked confused she thought to herself.

"Oh what the hell" she said out loud as she stepped forward and grabbed Luke's shirt as she pulled him closer to her and pressed her lips up hard against his. It took a few seconds for Luke to get over the surprise, he pulled her close as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. She liked that he wasn't objecting and gently used her tongue to separate his lips as she placed one hand on his face. He opened his mouth widely which sent tingles up Lorelai's spine, as their tongues touched for the first time there was a mutual feeling of electricity which pulsed through them. He responded by tightening his grip around her waist and lifting her slowly into the store room, not letting his lips leave hers and closed the door with his foot as he turned and set her on top of the table in the small store room. They engaged in a heated open-mouthed kiss for a few minutes when Luke pulled back and looked at her. Lorelai smiled as she looked at Luke who was smiling the largest smile that she had ever seen grace his chiselled face.

"So... we're back on?" he said not able to keep a straight face.

"Well I dunno, how would you feel about being my boyfriend?" she said fiddling with the collar of his t-shirt.

"Pretty good ... so you wanna be my girlfriend then?" he said slightly embarrassed at what he just said, it sounded like they were back in high school again.

"Aw does big Butch Danes want me to be his girlfriend? I feel so privileged. We can meet behind the bleachers at lunchtime my little hunny wunny." Lorelai said in a mocking tone, as she smiled flirtatiously and grossly exaggerated blowing Luke a kiss.

"Well not if you do that" he said gruffly.

She kissed him softly on the lips and pulled back, she looked into his eyes with her wicked grin on and asked "How about now?"

"Yea I could handle that" he said grinning before he pulled her face back in for a kiss.

They stood in the store room kissing passionately for a few minutes before they both pulled back so that they could catch their breath. They both wanted to go upstairs but they didn't want to move too fast, Lorelai wanted to take things slow, she finally felt like this was right and didn't want to rush things between them. Luke however knew that Lorelai had the tendency to freak out whenever things got too serious too fast, he wanted to wait until the right time for her. He had been ready to go there with her for a long time and was willing to wait. Lorelai sat on the table with her legs around Luke as he stood opposite her, they were looking at each other smiling, 'God this is so cheesy' they both thought as they just stared at each other. She still couldn't believe how natural this felt, shouldn't this be weird? She thought.

"So just so I know we're an 'us' now?" he asked.

"Yea the illicit affair is back on superman" she whispered.

"Ok, so that's why you wanted in the back way?"

"Exactly, see the way I'm wearing black, that's not coincidence, I was going to wear a black hat as well but Rory took it with her, grr! And I don't seem to have a balaclava at home" Lorelai said, they were back to their normal meaningless banter again.

"I was so close to putting some mud on my face and holding a tree up and moving across the road, but there were no trees just lying about and Taylor would probably have me arrested anyway so I just stuck with the black skirt and top and yuck I didn't want mud on my face ... no offence Xena!" she said pulling a face.

"Who?" he asked confused.

"Xena Warrior Princess, duh!"

"Stupid question" he said rolling his eyes.

"So do you think Caesar will say anything... haha you don't honestly think he believed our little story do you?"

"No he wouldn't, he sent me to wash my face after so I'm pretty sure he saw through our 'sink' cover up"

"Oh did I get some of my Vicious Trollop on you?" she said giggling.

"You're what?"

"It's the name of my lipstick"

"Obviously" he said rolling his eyes at her again.

"I had to lie to Babette after our sexy store room rendezvous too" Lorelai said smiling mischievously.

"Why? Did she see us? Damn this town" Luke said getting frustrated that he was the talk of the town, he hated to be any part of town gossip, especially this crazy town.

"Take a chill pill Luke, she just saw the rash around my mouth and I told her it was allergies, so you gotta shave daily now that you're my fella"

"Aw jeez"

"I know the things you gotta go through to be with me, pure torture I tell ya, no wonder it has taken me so long to get a man" she said in a mocking tone as he just stared at her.

"Well I'm sure there's some perks to the job too" he said as he leaned forward and kissed her softly, she put one hand on his cheek and the other she ran through his hair before she pulled back and grinned.

"Well another thing in the job description is coffee, can I have a mug?"

"Do you know what time it is? You'll never get to sleep if you have coffee at this time!" he said looking at her sternly.

"Hey, if I don't have coffee I will likely keel over and die within 48 hours so I think that is a worse alternative to not sleeping, I will start to get the shakes and be up all night sitting in a corner swaying from side to side saying coffee over and over again if I don't get any soon" she said in a serious tone like this was a life or death situation.

"Ah so either way you'll be up all night" he said, he knew she would get coffee anyway, he didn't even know why he had tried to say no, it had never worked before anyway.

"Dirty" she said with a wicked grin on, he just rolled his eyes at her.

"Ok come on in and I'll get you a cup of coffee" he said lifting her off the table, as he entwined his fingers with hers and lead her into the diner.


	10. A Scarf & A Sleepover

_Hey, sorry for it taking so long, the next chapter will be up very soon. There is gonna be some drama coming up in the next few chapters... just to keep it interesting! Thanks for everyone who is reviewing, youvive been great, like Kim (I would say more people but she's the only one who left their name)..... I really apprectiate everyone who's reviewed. Keep them everyone because it encourages me to write more!!_

**CHAPTER 10: A Scarf & a Sleepover**

The next morning Lorelai woke up smiling when she remembered the night before, 'I had make-out session with Luke' she said a loud to herself, god that sounded weird she thought. She got out of bed slowly, put on her dressing gown and made her way downstairs to get some coffee before she left for the Inn, she looked in at Rory's room on her way to the kitchen. It was still hard to get used to being home alone, she was so used to having Rory around during the summer, this time last year they had went back packing around Europe. She sat at the kitchen table and wondered what Rory was doing at that moment. She couldn't wait until she got home in a week and a half.

She finished her mug quickly and went back upstairs to get ready, she wanted to get some breakfast in Luke's before work. She wore her baby blue shirt, a black knee-length skirt and her black boots, making sure to grab her black jacket and car keys before she left the house.

* * *

Lorelai entered the diner just after eight that morning, Luke had been up since six, he was usually up earlier but he had slept in a bit, he hadn't got to bed until pretty late because of Lorelai's surprise visit – not that he was complaining. He watched her enter and grinned slightly, he liked the idea that no one in town knew they were a couple, well except Sookie.

Lorelai walked up to the counter and sat down at one of the stools nearest Luke, he had already started to pour her a cup of coffee and set it down in front of her.

"Why thank you kind sir" she said before whispering over the counter,"...or should I call you Daffy Duck?"

"You could call me that but don't expect an answer" he said gruffly. "So you on your way to the Inn?" he said, attempting to change the subject.

"Yup, I have so much to do, since the opening we have been booked out which is great, but it means I have a never ending list of things to do"

"Luke what temperature is your coffee, approximately?" a voice said from a table nearby, Luke and Lorelai both turned to see Kirk looking at them both.

"What?" Luke said incredulously.

"Well would you say you serve you're tea as hot as your coffee?" Kirk asked in a serious tone like this was any normal question.

"Hold on till I measure the temperature with my portable thermometer" he said sarcastically pretending to reach into his back pocket.

"Well at least you have one handy, I bet you're glad you asked now Kirk?" Lorelai said with sarcasm as she smiled wickedly at Luke, she loved to annoy him.

"Yes I am, it's handy that you have one Luke" Kirk said, not knowing that both Luke and Lorelai had been sarcastic before. Luke looked between Lorelai and Kirk, trying to think which one had the ability to annoy him the most.

"Get out Kirk, I don't have time for this" Luke said sternly.

"Why?" It was a simple request" Kirk said indignantly.

"Yea why Luke? Don't be a meanie, I was really interested to know which one was hotter too, I was just about to ask you but Kirk swooped in first" Lorelai said.

"Aw jeez!... Kirk go next door and ask Taylor which of his ice-creams is served the coldest, whenever he lets you test every single one then I will take the temperature of my coffee" Luke said sternly, he knew that Taylor would never allow that anyway. After the easter egg hunt incident Taylor wouldn't let Kirk get anywhere near his ice-cream.

"Okay well Luke I'll be back later to find out" Kirk said as he left. Lorelai and Luke both watched him walk next door into Taylor's.

"Aw dammit, I have to get to the Inn so I'm going to miss this" Lorelai said.

"I'm sure you'll live" he said rolling his eyes.

"Yes well if you don't fill up my coffee in the next five seconds I mightn't" she said as she lifted her mug and held it out as she pouted, knowing he couldn't resist it.

"Oh you left you're scarfy thing here the other day" he said as he poured her coffee.

"Really? Which one?"

"Um... the dark one, it's up in my apartment, I'll run up and get it" he said as he walked towards the door. She raised her eyebrow as she watched him walk up the stairs, she couldn't remember any scarf but surely Luke wasn't just trying to get her alone was he? She took a sip of coffee, walked across the diner and headed upstairs after Luke.

"Lukey?" she shouted as she entered, as she walked in she saw him standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey what's with the 'scarf' story?" she asked smiling as she walked over and stood opposite him.

"Well in the diner I can't do this" he said as he gently placed one hand on the side of her face and the other behind her neck as he slowly pulled her towards him leading her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. They pulled back a few minutes later, they both felt like they were in high school again and found it hard to keep their hands off each other.

"Aw and I was looking forward to getting a scarf" she said smiling at him as he rolled his eyes, her arms still wrapped loosely around his neck and his around her waist.

"Well maybe I'll buy you one someday"

"Oooh really? You could be my sugar daddy"

"I'm sure only Bill Gates would be able to be your sugar daddy and I'm still not sure if he would have enough"

"Me? Never!" she said putting on a pretend look of shock on her face as Luke raised an eyebrow at her.

"So you wanna do something tonight?" he asked.

"Like what? We could knock over a liquor store, or we could drive to Vegas and gamble, which we could finance by becoming strippers" she said, as if this was the best idea in the world. She looked at him as he looked at her sternly as he always did when she was talking crazy. "...or we could have a movie night?" she added.

"Well that's a tough choice!" he said sarcastically.

"Yea, I couldn't decided either, robbery or stripping... they are both so appealing"

"You're crazy" he said muttered.

"All the smartest people in the world have always been mistaken for crazy" she said smartly.

"Well I think it's insanity in your case" he said.

"Well either way you knew that before we started this so you can't back out now for that reason" she said poking him in the chest.

"I didn't say I was backing out" he muttered before he kissed her softly on the lips.

"I better get back down to the diner" he said suddenly realising how long they had been up there, he didn't want people getting suspicious.

"Yeah I gotta get to the Inn anyway. I could have knitted my own scarf in this time ..." she said looking at her watch. "... a nice pink and yellow one for you. You'd look so purty" she said mockingly.

"Could this be anymore embarrassing?"

"Yes it could. Aw does Lukey want his widdle scarf" she said in a baby voice before he stopped her with a soft kiss on the lips and pulled back.

"If I knew that's all it took to shut you up I wouldn't have waited so long" he said as they separated.

"Well aren't you the sweetest thang" she said in a southern accent.

They both walked towards the apartment door, they both had places to get to, although neither wanted to leave the apartment. When they had reached the door Lorelai turned and gave Luke a long lingering kiss on the, he moaned slightly when she pulled back. She noticed a bit of lips stick on his bottom lip and quickly wiped it off gently before they turned to go downstairs to the diner.

"Where were you two?" Kirk said eyeing them both suspiciously.

"None of your damn business, didn't you have to see Taylor anyway?" Luke said gruffly.

"He told me to come back here" Kirk said. Luke walked across the diner and went behind the counter as Lorelai grabbed her bag from the stool on her way past, "Okay gotta get back to the Inn, see ya later" she said as she turned and left the diner. Luke stood at the counter and stared out at her for seconds, still not fully believing that they were together.

"Luke, I am quite concerned about you" Kirk said as he looked at Luke as he watched Lorelai leave the diner.

"Why is that Kirk?" he said as he sighed heavily and looked sternly at Kirk.

"Well I was reading in a book recently.." he said before Luke interrupted him with "You can read?"

"Yes I can" Kirk said proudly. "Anyway I was reading this book about love and what it's about, how it happens, what to do and not to do you know? I have a girlfriend now so it's logical that I should be reading these types of books"

"Of course it is" Luke said growing more impatient.

"Anyway I have noticed that since you and Nicole broke up you have been looking at Lorelai ... well in a more than friendly way, well not that you didn't anyway but more now that your single and I think it's unhealthy"

"What?" Luke said, angry that people were already starting to notice his relationship with Lorelai.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Luke, I used to like Lorelai too remember? She turned me down though so don't get your hopes up. But it was good because now I have Lulu, anyway I think the term for what you are going through is called transference, or just on the rebound. Lulu and I were talking last night about you last night..."

"You were what?" Luke said his voice louder this time, he hated to be the centre of attention and he hated the thought of Kirk talking about him.

"But I have good news, Lulu's brothers ex-girlfriends friend, Helda, she's a hypnotist, she's just off parole and she is coming to Stars Hollow in a few weeks... to help with my sleeping problem" Kirk said his voice getting quieter as he got to the last part. "Anyway she likes baseball and she's quite masculine, and you're a manly man so we thought you two might hit it off" Kirk said in a serious tone as he looked at Luke who seemed to be getting redder in the face.

"Kirk what makes you think I wanna date anyone? Certainly not some whack-job who got out of prison for god knows what, I can get my own dates, I don't need you of all people to set me up. So stop talking to Lulu about me, oh and FYI Lorelai and I are just friends, why does this crazy town think that we are anymore than that?" Luke said as he got into one of his Luke-like rants.

"Well she is a nice woman" Kirk said

"Get out Kirk" Luke muttered as he walked back into the kitchen and waited a few minutes until Kirk left.

* * *

"Hey hon" Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen of the Inn.

"Hey, you're in late" Sookie said casually.

"Yea I called by Luke's for breakfast" Lorelai said grinning.

"I'm sure that's not all you called by for" Sookie said giggling.

"God I feel like a teenager, I just get these butterflies when I see him or when he kisses me and then I sometimes don't know what to say, like c'mon me, and I don't know what to say?" Lorelai said as she took the cup of coffee that Sookie had just poured her.

"It must be love" Sookie said as she started singing, she was happy that her friend had got her act together with Luke finally.

"Woah – slow down there, we've only had one official date yet!" Lorelai said, though she had to admit to herself she had wondered whether it was love herself. She didn't even know what he was thinking about them, Luke was her boyfriend... the whole prospect was gradually getting less weird though.

"Yea and some heavy make-out sessions I bet" Sookie said.

"Hehe" Lorelai giggled when her friend said that, she couldn't help but smile when she thought about it.

"So have you two ya know?" Sookie asked curiously as she stirred.

"Have we what?" Lorelai said.

"C'mon you know what I'm talking about" Sookie said raising an eyebrow and smiling at Lorelai.

"Sookie we've only just started dating, I'm not about to jump into bed with him. I'm still getting used to just kissing him.... I have thought about it though" she said grinning mischievously.

"Last night when I was at the diner it got pretty heated, I'm not talkin' Pamela and Tommy-Lee with the car thing but just some heavy makin' out" Lorelai said.

"This is so exciting, It's so hard not to tell Jackson thought! You better tell me when you two... ya know" Sookie said raising her eyebrow.

"Well I'm sure you will read all about it on the posters I plan to put up" Lorelai said sarcastically.

"Good, so when are you two going out again?"

"Well he's coming over tonight, we are gonna have a movie night" she said just getting excited at the thought of it, then she started to get nervous after what Sookie had said to her about her and Luke and...sex. They hadn't been alone in her house yet, well unless you count when he picked her up before they went out on a date.

"Really?" Sookie asked in a suggestive manner.

"Yea – and don't even start about what I know you're thinking about. AnywayI better get back out there before Michel has a hernia or something"

"Okay see ya later".

The day went pretty slowly for Lorelai, Michel was being a pain as usual, but she didn't let that get in the way of her good mood. She actually just used it to annoy him even more, it was just so much fun to piss him off!

* * *

Later that night Luke walked up Lorelai's driveway, he had picked up a few movies for them at the store and brought some food from the diner. He was near the porch but turned when he heard Babette's voice from next door.

"Hey doll" Babette's voice said from next door.

"O Hi Babette" Luke said, a little too nervously.

"What you kids up to tonight?" Babette asked as she eyed the bag in his hands and the video boxes under his arms.

"Um... just havin' a movie night" he said.

"Really?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Just friends" he said gruffly. He smiled into himself, he did like this secrecy thing as well.

"Okay well have fun, me and Morey are having a night in as well" she said.

"Morey I'll be right there" Babette hollered into the house.

"Ok bye then" Luke said as he walked up to Lorelai's front porch.

Lorelai had been up in her room getting ready for Luke coming over, she was nervous after her conversation with Sookie earlier, would tonight be 'the night'? She was wearing her tight jeans and a tight red t-shirt, she put her straight hair in a pony tail and looked in the mirror.

"Yea I look cute" she said as she smiled in the mirror and then looked at the clock. He was late, wow he was never late! She walked down the stairs and checked that all the snacks were ready, though she knew she would probably be the only one eating them. Well apart from the very few healthy one's she had bought for Luke when she was in Doose's earlier. She looked out the window just to check for Luke, she groaned as she saw him outside talking to Babette, it was the Dean thing all over again. They had a brief conversation and then she watched him walk up to the front door, he didn't knock immediately, he checked himself up and down and then used his free hand to fix his hair. She giggled as she watched him standing there, he looked nervous when he knocked and moved from one foot to the next. She ran over to the door and opened it smiling at him.

"You ready beauty queen?" she asked giggling

"What?" he asked a confused look on her face.

"Never mind, come in" she said moving from the doorway so that he could come in.

"You look nice" he said as he looked her up and down, he liked when she wore those tight jeans, that was a new top though because he hadn't seen it on her before.

"You too" she said as she looked at him. He was wearing his jeans and a black t-shirt which showed off his muscles and tattoo. She waited until she had closed the door and gave him a soft peck on the lips and took his hand as they walked into the living room.

"Didn't know the whole of Stars Hollow were coming to watch the movies with us" he said as he stared at the vast amount of junk food that was sitting on the coffee table.

"Hey you know my rules, no movies without a lot of junk food, it helps you appreciate the movies" she said in a serious tone.

"So that wasn't just for Charlie and the Chocolate factory then?"

"Uh no duh! You just need more than normal for that that movie!" she said as though that was the stupidest question she had ever heard in her life.

"Obviously" he said rolling his eyes.

"So what movies did you bring?" she asked as she tugged his t-shirt.

"Well I wasn't sure so I brought Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and You've got Mail"

"You gotta bit of a thing for Tom Hanks?" she said grinning, "Oh Tom you're my hero" she said mockingly.

He looked at her with an impression that said shut up. "Choose" he said sternly.

"Umm Forrest Gump – I love it"

"Okay cool well I'll go and put this on a plate for you and you can set up the video" he said as he walked into the kitchen and got out a plate to put her fries and burger on and put his salad in a small bowel. He walked back into the living room and sat down just as Lorelai leaned down to put the video into the VCR. He did what most guys would do and stared at her ass in those tight jeans, he turned his head so that it was tilted so he could get a better look as he admired her from behind, he rarely got the chance to do it. She turned around quickly and he jumped on the couch as he turned his head away from her, she looked at him with a frown.

'Was he just doing what I think he was doing?' she thought to herself as she walked back to the couch, he was blushing slightly.

"Ready?" he asked and then coughed.

"Um yea" she said as she raised an eyebrow at him, she got up and turned off the lights. She went back to the sofa and sat beside him, he had his arm around the back of the sofa and she lay her head on his knee as they started to watch the movie. He moved his hand and gently stroked her stomach.

"I love this. 'My name's Forrest Gump...people call me Forrest Gump" she said in her best Forrest Gump accent.

"Don't give up your day job" he said laughing as she hit him on the arm.

"You didn't say anything about the healthy snacks I provided for you" she said as she pointed at the fruit salad container and oat bar.

"Thanks" he said as he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

"You're welcome" she said smiling. "You want one?" she asked holding a candy up to him.

"Yuck no"

"But it's shaped like a banana!" she said indignantly.

"Yes but it isn't a banana, it is pure sugar, the candy companies just make candy shaped like fruit so that it doesn't seem as bad that they are actually rotting children's teeth away and securing the pensions of thousands of dentists across the world. They're saying 'hey why don't we make sweets look like fruit so that it at least looks like we want them to eat healthily' he said not taking a breath as usual when he was on his rants.

"Okay never mind the candy I think you are badly in need of a chill pill" she said as she squeezed his hand. She thought it was funny sometimes when he ranted about things, well only if it wasn't directed at her.

"Sorry" he said as he squeezed her hand back, sometimes he couldn't help but go off on a tangent about something that was so trivial it didn't really matter. They turned their heads back to the movie and sat and watched it the whole way through, not moving except when Lorelai had got them some beers from the fridge or when they were reaching for snacks.

"I love that movie" she said

"So you said"

"It's so sad at the end though, I can't believe you didn't cry!" she said as he looked at her with a look that said, 'Are you crazy?' He looked at his watch, it was 11.15pm.

"So you wanna watch another movie" she said as she sat up.

"Nah that's okay"

"Aw Tom will be heartbroken" she said as he rolled his eyes. They sat there for a few minutes as they watched the end of the credits of the movie.

"So when's Rory getting back?" he asked

"Um in 10 days, I can't wait, I'm thinking about throwing her a welcome home party what you think?"

"Well maybe you two should just do stuff, I mean I know things weren't... great before she left" he said in a concerned voice.

"Mmm yeah but I think that'll all be okay. I wanna tell you something though, and you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise"

"Rory slept with Dean" she said.

"What?" Luke said as he jumped off the sofa.

"I'm gonna kill that kid, I always told you he was trouble didn't I? I'm gonna put his head through a wall I swear to god" Luke ranted as he walked around the coffee table. He always walked funny when he was mad, a bit like an ape she thought.

"Luke calm down, it takes two to tango ya know, Rory did it too" she said, hating to admit it to herself.

"How can you be this calm? The kid's married, I mean I knew that he still loved Rory but he's married Lorelai? Don't vows mean anything to anyone these days" he said getting really mad as he remembered how Nicole cheated on him too.

"Luke please sit down, you'll give yourself a hernia if you keep this up" she said and he looked around at her like she was crazy.

"Do you even know what causes a hernia?" he said, knowing that it wasn't simply pacing up and down.

"I dunno I saw it on ER once, Hey, do I look like a doctor?" she said getting up and walking over to him. She grabbed his shirt and tugged it trying to move him back to the couch.

"I can get to the couch myself" he said rolling his eyes.

"Really? Here's me thinking you were lost when you kept walking around the coffee table" she said sarcastically. They both sat down on the couch, she loved that Luke was so protective over Rory, he had always been a kind of father figure for Rory.

"Sorry, I just can't believe this. I mean Rory is such a good kid, and Dean, I should have stopped it"

"What are you some kinda physic now?"

"Lorelai, there's something I never told you"

"Oh my god you are a physic aren't you?" she said, he looked sternly at her.

"Lorelai" he said in a serious voice.

"Okay I'm listening" she said.

"The night before Dean's wedding, he was out on his stag night and his friends and him were all pretty drunk, they all came into the diner and Dean could barely stand so I brought him up to my apartment, and he kept saying all this stuff about Rory"

"What did he say?"

"All sorts, he asked me why she didn't love him and he said she was the one for him, that she was so smart and then something about having pretty hair? I don't remember exactly" Luke said, he didn't know how Lorelai would take this, or if she would be mad that he didn't tell her.

"Wow" she said as she put her hands over her face, "Why didn't you tell me this before? Is that why you didn't want us going to the wedding?" she asked in disbelief.

"I looked for you but I couldn't find you and after the wedding happened I really didn't see much point, I thought maybe it was just stuff he said when he was drunk." he said, even though he knew it wasn't true, it was obvious that Dean was still crazy about Rory.

"Mm I guess, why would you marry someone you didn't love? I could never do that ... but what Dean did was wrong even if he still does love Rory" she said as she shook her head. Her eyes started welling up as she thought about it all and how stuff had been with Rory after she had found out, 'I hate you' ran through her head when she thought about it. She knew Rory hadn't meant it but it still hurt. Luke could see she was getting upset about it all, he put his arm around her for comfort as she sunk into his shoulder.

"It'll be fine don't worry about it" he said softly as he rubbed her arm.

"Sorry, I know how uncomfortable you get with this damsel in distress stuff" she said laughing slightly.

"It's different with you. I'll always be here for you Lorelai, I want you to know that" he said softly as he turned to look at her.

"I know" she said and smiled at him. He kissed her softly on the lips before pulling back from her and used his finger and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. It always shocked Lorelai at how gentle Luke could be with her but she really liked it.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?" he whispered in her ear which sent shivers up her spine.

"Would you stay tonight? I just don't wanna be alone" she asked.

"Umm sure" he said smiling at her comfortingly.


	11. Coffee & Confrontation

_The next one will be up in a few days with drama! Thanks for reviews. Tell me what you think of this. Cat x_

**CHAPTER 11: Coffee and Confronation **

"Luke?"

"Yeah"

"It's been a while since my last cup of coffee, can you get me another pretty please?" she asked with a pout. "We should call you the King of Coffee, 'cos yours is the best, oh my god that can you're new code name. I'll be Java Junkie, and you can be coffee king. Kinda like Budweiser king of beers except you my friend are King of Coffee ....or do you think those are too easy to figure out?" she asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I will answer to Luke and that's it"

"What about Lucas?"

"No" he said gruffly

"Captain Kirk?" she asked smiling mischievously.

"No"

"I was just thinking that since you had the shirt n everything, we could do roleplays, you could be Captain Kirk and I'll be princess Lea"

"No and Princess Lea is in Star Wars not Star Trek"

"Whatever, we can't all be sci-fi freaks like you"

"That's just a known fact, I'm not a...." he trailed off, he knew he wouldn't win this argument, he knew she would keep on going.

"You want coffee or not?" he said gruffly.

"Um yea!" she said as she jumped off the couch excitedly.

"You're crazy" he muttered as she got up. She put her arm around his waist and snuggled into him on the way to the kitchen. She sat down at the kitchen table as she watched Luke start to make coffee. Less than ten minutes later they were both sitting at the table, Luke was drinking water since they had no tea and Lorelai was just finishing her first cup of coffee.

"So you're sure you want me to stay?"

"I was just thinking about that, maybe it's not such a good idea"

"Oh okay" he said clearly disappointed.

"I'm kidding Mr Serious, yes I want you to stay" she said smiling as he grinned at her.

"... Even if you are a trekkie" she said with a wicked grin on her face as he rolled his eyes. He picked up their mugs, stood up and walked over to the sink and started to rinse them out. Lorelai walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You don't have to do that now ya know" she whispered into his ear.

"Well then when would they get done?" he replied.

"Duh when we run out of clean ones, which would probably be in the next few days, then I would decide whether to clean them or just buy new ones" she was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "Yea I'd probably just buy new ones and make them last until Rory got home".

"That's what I thought, hence the washing up" he said as he finished rinsing the two cups and put them on the drainer and dried his hands on the dish towel. He turned back to Lorelai who was now leaning against the work top, she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and hugged him. The last few days had been a whirlwind for him, he had finally got the girl and he never wanted to let her go.

"You ready for bed?" she whispered in his ear.

"Definatley" he whispered back into her ear, he smelt her hair and grinned as he pulled back and took her hand and she lead him upstairs. About ten minutes later Luke was sitting on the bed in his boxers and t-shirt waiting for Lorelai to finish brushing her teeth. A few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, he smiled as he watched her enter.

"Hey" she said shyly as she approached the bed.

"Hey ... nice pyjamas" he said grinning at her. She walked over to the bed wearing Garfield pyjamas, the trousers were baggy but the top was a tight string top that hugged her figure nicely.

"Well I know how much you love this cat, I believe your exact words were 'That is one funny cat'" she said using air quotes.

"O yeah your stationary" he said remembering back to the note that she had written him after their fight, he still had it in his apartment. He remembered when Nicole had been over once looking through some of his stuff that he was supposed to be moving to her place and she had seen the note in his drawer, she was far from happy with the 'Love Lorelai' part. He had pretended to throw it out like he hadn't realised still had it but he had stuck it in his pocket when she wasn't looking.

Lorelai turned off the main bedroom light and walked back over to the bed and jumped in, 'I can't wait to sleep with Luke' she thought excitedly. He was thinking the exact thing about her.

He put his arm around her and she snuggled up into him with her arm draped over his chest, she loved being this close to him. She looked up and kissed him softly on the lips before they both went to sleep. Even though there was nothing sexual happening between them they were both happier than they had been a long time.

* * *

The next morning Luke woke up at 5.45, he had slept in a bit but he had to get up and go to the diner. He tried to get up without waking Lorelai up which took a while since she was leaning on him, he managed to get off the bed. He had been watching her to make sure he didn't wake her but as he got up and as he stepped backwards he stumbled on his boots which he had left in the middle of the floor.

"Dammit" Luke said as he crashed to the floor with a thud.

"What the hell" a sleepy voice said, a few seconds later Lorelai's head popped over the side of the bed and looked down at him.

"Decided to try gymnastics?" she said grinning as she saw Luke sitting on the floor looking embarrassed.

"I was trying not to wake you up" he said gruffly.

"Successful as ever" she said sarcastically. She looked over to the alarm clock, "Jeez... why would you get up this early?"

"We've been through this before"

"Yes well I still don't see method in your madness" she said as she climbed back under the bed covers and buried her head in a pillow. He pulled on his jeans and walked over to the bed, "So I'll maybe see you later?" he asked as he leaned down and kissed her.

"You woke me up, that's against the law in this house... if it's not gymnastics it's an army of alarm clocks" she muttered.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Don't pretend you don't know alarm clock massacre" she said grumpily.

"I see you like to spread joy in the morning" he said sarcastically as he headed for the door. Another reason for his early rising is that he didn't want Babette to catch him coming out of Lorelai's.

"Hey" she shouted.

"What?" he asked as he turned around to see her getting out of bed and stumbling over to him, she was still partially asleep.

"I just wanted a proper goodbye" she said as she put her hands on the sides of his face and kissed him deeply.

"See ya later, at a godly hour of the day" she muttered.

"Bye" he said grinning as he walked out and she crawled back into bed again.

* * *

Lorelai entered the diner a little after eight the next morning. She looked around for Luke but he didn't seem to be around so she took went to the counter and filled herself a cup of coffee when Luke walked in.

"Hey" she said smiling over her coffee mug.

"Hi" he said.

"How are you this morning?"

"I'm good, you okay?" he asked, he hoped she didn't regret him staying over last night, they hadn't had sex but it still meant something to him.

"I'm good, actually I slept with this great guy last night" she whispered over the counter so no-one else could hear. He leaned his elbows on the counter and looked at her grinning, he had been so happy the last few days since they got together.

"Really? Because I slept with someone really great too last night"

"Interesting" she said flirtatiously as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Wow Big Frank was busy" she said grinning as he rolled his eyes.

"So are you working tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah, Caesar can't work. Will you be in?"

"Yeah I'm sure I could squeeze you into my busy schedule"

He stood up from the counter, he could feel stares on them both and didn't want anyone to give them a second thought. He didn't want them to be the talk of the town yet, it was nice just having it between them. Lorelai drank the rest of her coffee and left some money on the counter, she didn't want to attract any attention to the two of them, she couldn't believe they had kept it a secret for so long, she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. She said goodbye to Luke and left to go to the Inn.

* * *

**_Around 8pm that evening..._**  
  
Lorelai entered the diner, there were a few people in but it was pretty quiet. She saw Luke standing talking to an old lady in the corner and smiled, he was laughing at something she was saying, if she was younger then Lorelai would have been jealous. A minute or so later Luke came back to the counter.

"Hey"

"Hi"

"So have I got some competition then?" she said raising her eyebrow.

"Keep your voice down" he grumbled.

"You don't want you fancy lady to hear me huh?" she said looking over at the old lady in the corner with narrowing eyes.

"Be serious"

"Hey I am, how would I know you weren't into something freaky like that, what's that called like necrophilia or something" she said in a serious voice.

"Lorelai" he said sternly.

"Okay so can I get something to eat then, correct me if I'm wrong but you can get food here right?"

"You want your normal?"

"Yeah" she said and he turned and walked back into the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat for a minute before her phone went off.

"_Mom?"_

"Rory, hi, how are you sweets?"

"_I'm great, how are you?"_

"I'm great now. So how's Europe?"

"_It's amazing, we are in Amsterdam at the minute, it's really good"_

"Tell the girls at the red light place I said hey and keep up the good work"

"_I'll be sure to do that if Grandma and I go there" Rory said in a sarcastic tone._

"I'm sure that's first on Emily's list" Lorelai said smiling at the thought "So you looking forward to coming home? I can't wait until you get home, we have so much to do before you go back to Yale. You want me to send you a photo so you know who to look out for in the airport. I have blue eyes and long hair, and a...."

"_Aren't you blonde?"_

"No I changed"

"_Good 'cos blonde is so overrated anyway. So how's things with you and Luke?"_

"They are great. I am at Luke's now so don't worry about me dying of starvation when you're gone"

"_I was worried about that but I'm glad you reassured me. Tell Luke I said hey" Rory said. She really missed her mom and seeing her. She missed everything about Stars Hollow, she wanted to get back and see everyone, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Dean and Lindsay._

"Sure I'll but him on the phone and you can say it yourself" Lorelai said as Luke walked in with her food. She held the phone out to him and he took it, he guessed that it was Rory on the phone.

"Hey Rory" he said gruffly.

"_Hey Luke" Rory said cheerfully, she had definatley missed him more than she thought she would._

"Hi Rory. How's Europe?" he said grinning.

"_It's great. I'm having a great time. Thanks for looking after mom for me" _

"Great, and it's no problem" he said grinning.

"_Okay well I gotta go now, but I think it's really good that you and mom are together now...finally"_

"Have a good time in Europe, I'll have some coffee here when you get back and Rory?"

"_Yeah?"_

"Thanks" he said, he liked that Rory wasn't weird about them being a couple, she was a great kid. He handed the phone back to Lorelai as she smiled at him, for what reason he wasn't sure.

"Hey again" she said.

"_Hey mom, so I gotta go now, it's pretty late here"_

"Okay hon, miss you, love ya more than coffee" Lorelai said smiling.

"_Love you too mom"_

"More than coffee?"

"_Yeah more than coffee"_

"Good because have I told you about the pain I went through when you were born... it felt like..."

"Yes I'm sure you have mentioned it" Rory said sarcastically as she interrupted her, she had heard the story so many times, each time it got more detailed.

_Bye mom" Rory said as they both hung up._

"Bye hon"

Luke stood watching Lorelai as she talked to Rory, she was a great mom to her which was one of the things he really loved about her. She hung up and smiled widely at him, he grinned back.

"You know I think one of the sexiest things about you is how considerate you can be with Rory"

"Well she's an amazing kid... all thanks to you" he said blushing slighty.

"Yeah she is, and thanks" Lorelai said as she took a bite of her burger. Luke walked into the kitchen and brought out some food for some customers while Lorelai sat eating her burger and fries. About half an hour later she got up to leave.

"You going?" he asked, disappointed that he had to work tonight.

"Yeah, have loads to do tonight"

"Okay well see you later"

"...alligator. In a while crocodile" Lorelai said smiling as she turned and left

_**

* * *

**_

_**10pm that evening**_

Luke had just watched the last customer leave and closed the diner, he was wiping down the counter and wondering if he should call Lorelai. He picked up the phone and dialled her number.

"Hello"

"Hey" he said, happy to hear her voice.

"Wat ya up to?" she asked brightly.

"Just closed up. What you doing?"

"Just crappy stuff for the Inn but I'm just finished, I would kill for some coffee though" she said hoping that he would take the hint and bring her over some coffee.

"Well that's a shock... you want me to come over?" he asked, he knew he had only seen her a few hours ago but he really wanted to see her.

"Aw would you Lukey?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Don't call me that" he said gruffly.

"Ok Lucas so when are you gonna come over?"

"I'll just finish closing up and I'll be right over"

"Yay! Oh and if you happen to see a bag with burger, fries and coffee lying about then feel free to bring it with you"

They both said their goodbyes and hung up. Lorelai ran upstairs to put on some cute pyjamas for Luke, she was excited. About ten minutes later the doorbell rang, 'Wow that was quick' Lorelai thought as she went downstairs in her Spongebob Squarepants shorts and a tank top.

"Hi" the voice said as she opened the door.

"Dean" Lorelai said coldly as she looked out at him. She had managed to avoid him so far but she knew they would have to talk sometime.

"Lorelai, can I talk to you?" he asked pleadingly.

"Um yea come in" she said in a monotone voice.

"I just really wanna say sorry for what happened"

"How could you do it Dean?" Lorelai asked.

"I know it was wrong on Lindsay, but I love... Rory Lorelai, I promise you that and I never meant to hurt her"

"I know that you love her Dean, but why would you get married if you loved someone else?" Lorelai said frowning.

"I thought I could love her, but I was stupid" Dean said as he sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

"So what's happening now?"

"I told Lindsay that I didn't think it was working and that we were both unhappy together so we split up"

"Wow-when did this happen?" Lorelai said as she sat down at the kitchen table. She felt sorry for Dean, he looked so helpless sitting there.

"A few days ago. I suppose it'll be town gossip by tomorrow" he said in a sad voice

"Don't worry... I think you'll be fine Dean" Lorelai said with a little compassion.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry Lorelai, I just hope that you can maybe forgive me sometime" he said standing up. He looked like a little boy as he stood in front of her which he certainly wasn't as he towered over her.

"I forgive you Dean but only 'cos I know you are a good kid and you love Rory" Lorelai said smiling slightly at him and he smiled back.

"Thanks. So I should go now" he said he looked in the direction of the back door.

"Okay well good luck with everything Dean" she said as he opened the back door and stepped out. He nodded and gave a small wave before he turned and left. She felt strange, she had thought she would have been really mad at him but the truth was she felt sorry for him, he had lost more than Rory had.

Luke walked up to the Gilmore's and saw a figure walking down the driveway. He couldn't make him out but as he got some closer he saw who it was and could feel his anger building as he walked faster towards him.


	12. Blasts from the Past

_**Hey people, I hope you like this chapter. The next few chapters are gonna be good. Please review and let me know you're all still reading this. Thanx :)**_

**CHAPTER 12: Blasts from the past**

_Luke walked up to the Gilmore's and saw a figure walking down the driveway. He couldn't make him out but as he got some closer he saw who it was and could feel his anger building as he walked faster towards him._

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to Lorelai"

"Why?"

"I just needed to tell her some stuff, not that it's any of your business" Dean said. He hated having to explain himself and people knowing what he had done to Lindsay and Rory.

"Rory and Lorelai are my business"

"Well this has nothing to do with you Luke, so just leave it" Dean said as he turned away from Luke and started to walk away.

"How could you do it? Cheat on your wife and use Rory to do it." Luke said getting angrier every time he thought about it, part of his anger coming from what Nicole had done for him.

"I love Rory." Dean said defiantly.

"So that make's it okay?"

"No, but you're one to talk" Dean said as he mumbled the last part.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well you were married and you were in love with someone else too"

"What?" Luke said angrily as he grabbed Dean's shirt.

"The whole town knew you still had a thing for Lorelai, so you're no 'great' husband either... in a way you were kinda cheating on your wife as well"

Lorelai had emerged from her house a few minutes later when she heard a shriek from Babette. She came out and saw two figures fighting in the middle of the street, as she walked down the steps of her porch she saw who it was.

"LUKE! DEAN!" Lorelai shouted as she ran towards them. They didn't appear to have heard her or else they were just ignoring her as they continued to wrestle on the ground. Dean had heard Lorelai but Luke appeared to be in a rage and wouldn't let him go. Lorelai got between the two to try and pull Dean away. Just before Luke had moved to hit Dean Lorelai had jumped in front of him and before he realised it he had accidentally hit Lorelai on the side of the face.

"Ouch" she shouted loudly as she felt the pain rush through her face and fell to the ground.

"O jesus" Luke said as he realised what he had done. Dean jumped up and stood between Luke and Lorelai, he knelt to check she was okay, Luke just stood there in shock not believing what he had just done.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, very concerned because it really had looked sore.

"I'm fine Dean" Lorelai gasped as she held her face. She sat on the grass in disbelief as she turned her gaze to Luke, he looked as if he was about to be sick.

"Sugar, are you okay?" Babette asked as she ran across to her.

"Morey hurry with that ice!" Babette shouted loudly back in the direction of her house.

"I'm fine" Lorelai said in a monotone voice as the realization of what just happened hit her. A few moments later Morey ran over with some ice and handed it to Babette. She turned Lorelai's face towards her, it was already swelling up.

"That looks nasty sugar, how about we get you inside?" Babette said as she started to lead Lorelai back to the house. Luke stood there, he didn't know what to say to her, 'I can't believe I hurt her' Luke thought as he looked at the hurt in her eyes. Before he got a chance to talk Babette had arrived, this would be around the town within the hour and no doubt the story would be very different once everyone had changed it a bit.

"Lorelai" Luke managed to gasp out. She turned round to him and looked back at him before she walked back into the house. Dean stood watching Luke, not knowing what to say or do, things had gone worse than either could have imagined.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine" Luke mumbled as he hung his head in shame.

"I'll take you back to the diner" Dean said as he looked at Luke, he looked like he could collapse. Dean walked back with him to the diner, Luke didn't say a word the entire walk. He didn't know what he could possibly say, he had hurt Lorelai, nothing he said or did would undo that.

Lorelai sat down on the sofa as Babette continued to fuss over her. She put her head in her hands as she sat down, she knew in her heart that it had been an accident but she still couldn't just forget about it.

"I'm fine Babette, I just think I'm going to bed" Lorelai said quietly.

"You sure doll? I can stay here if you want. " Babette said as she stood over Lorelai.

"No Babette that's fine, I kinda just wanna be alone"

"Okay well I'll see you tomorrow sugar" Babette said as she touched her hand and left. Lorelai sat there for ten minutes holding the ice pack just wondering what Luke was thinking at this minute.

**1am**

Luke sat on one of the stools in the diner and leaned on the counter. He had a bottle of beer in his hand, it was his fifth of the night and he was starting to feel the effects as he tried to stay awake. He needed to talk to Lorelai but he had no clue where to start.

**

* * *

**

**The next day...**

It was around 9 when Lorelai woke the next day, though she hadn't got much sleep that night but was awoken by the phone ringing.

"Yeah?" she mumbled into the phone.

"_What way is that to answer a phone Lorelai? Didn't I teach you anything? I mean as if you're answering machine messages are bad enough..."_

"Hi Mom" Lorelai interrupted as she sat up, she rubbed her temples, 'You're the last person I want to deal with today' Lorelai thought frowning as she rubbed her cheek.

"_So how is everything?"_

"Fine mom, and you?" Lorelai said just trying to make conversation.

"_Very well, Rory and I are having a lovely time"_ Emily said smiling.

"That's great mom. Anyway I was just on my way to the Inn so I have to go" Lorelai lied.

"_You don't even have five minutes to talk with your mother?" _Emily as sharply.

"What do you want to talk about Mom?" she asked impatiently.

"_Well anything new in your life?"_ Emily asked, she had head Rory mention that she had gotten together with the diner man and was digging for information.

"We hired new staff at the Inn which is good"

"_And?"_ Emily asked, prodding her for information.

"... and I finally got to see the finale of Sex and the City the other day which I have been waiting to see for soo long. It's so obvious that Carrie and Big would get together in the end, I mean what kinda accent was that guy putting on anyway...it didn't sound Russian to me..." Lorelai said, she liked to talk until her mother became so impatient that she left her alone.

"_Lorelai"_ Emily said impatiently.

"Um hmm" Lorelai said smiled as she knew how much she was annoying her mother.

"_I can't even have a serious conversation with you Lorelai!"_

"What? I just told you I finally saw the finale of Sex and the City, how is that not serious?"

"_Fine I will talk to you later_" Emily said as she sighed.

"Okay bye mom...stay away from the red light district" Lorelai added sarcastically as she hung up. She smiled in glee, she loved when she was able to annoy her mother so much that she just gave up talking to her.

Luke had fallen asleep on the counter just before dawn, he woke up to a knock on the door of the diner. He jumped up from his sleep and it took him a few seconds to get his bearings, he looked at all the empty beer bottles on the counter and groaned. He heard more knocking on the door as he turned round, he walked over to the door and opened it slowly.

"Nicole?" he said as he looked at her strangely.

"Hi Luke"

"What are you doing here?" he asked coldly.

"Can we talk?" she asked nervously.

"Now's not really a good time" he said, still looking at her strangely. He had the worst headache and he couldn't figure out why she was here, they hadn't spoken since the divorce and even then they had barely uttered a word.

"I know I shouldn't have just turned up but I just wanna talk, I have a meeting with Taylor in a while anyway"

"Fine, come in" he said gruffly as he opened the door wider so that she could come in. She walked in, he could see her eyes widen as she saw all the beer bottles sitting on the counter and turned to him with a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything okay Luke?"

"It's fine. So why are you here Nicole?" he asked gruffly.

"I brought you these" she said as she took out two small boxes from her bag "... I know they were you're dad's and they meant a lot to you".

"Uh thanks" he said as he took them and set them on the counter, relieved that he hadn't lost them. They were high school medals that his dad had given to him when he was younger, he had been looking for them for ages.

"I'm sorry" Nicole blurted out, he looked up from his medals and just stared at her.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you, I know there's nothing I can really say to excuse myself I just wanted to tell you"

"It's fine Nicole" he said gruffly.

"I really am"

"It's fine, I'm over it" he said looking at her.

"Okay ... well good, that's good for you. So are you okay?" she asked as she looked over at the beer bottles and then back at time. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and he stank of beer.

"Yea I'll be fine" he said as he sat down on a stool and looked down at the floor. She wasn't sure what exactly had happened but it was plainly obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. She went into the kitchen and got him a glass of water.

"Thanks" he grumbled as she set the glass of water down in front of him.

"So you wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"Not really" he said gruffly, he didn't know what to say to her. Even when they had been together he had spoken to Lorelai about most stuff, as he thought about her he remembered the previous night and felt like he needed to throw up.

"Okay. Well I think you should maybe go to bed. You can't open today, it smells like a brewery in here and you look like you need some sleep" Nicole said.

"Yeah I guess" he said with his head hanging as he made his way to his apartment stairs. He needed to get some sleep and think about what he could possibly say to Lorelai.

* * *

Lorelai picked up the phone, she needed to ring Sookie at the Inn and say she would be in late.

"Hey Michel, get Sookie would you?"

"_You are late"_

"Congratulations on being able to tell the time now please get Sookie" Lorelai said impatiently. About thirty seconds later after a lot of grumbling from Michel she heard Sookie.

"_Hey hon" _Sookie said brightly

"Hi Sook"

"_So what's up?"_

"Something happened last night and I'm gonna be in a bit later today?"

"Why what happened?"

"Umm I'll tell you later hon, I just really have to do something first"

"Any clues?"

"Well it involves a bit of WWF action on the middle of the street"

"Okay well hurry up and get here" Sookie said wanting to hear what happened.

"Bye" Lorelai said. She looked at her face in the mirror and examined the bruise on her cheek.

"I look like a Dalmatian" she grumbled as she tried to cover it with make-up with little success. She had come to the decision last night that she needed to talk to Luke, she knew it was an accident and he looked horrified last night, she knew he would never purposely hurt her. She got dressed and decided to drive to the diner, the less people who saw her face the better and no doubt it was around town by now.

She parked the truck just outside the front of the diner, she didn't see anyone about luckily and walked up to the front door. She looked in when she saw the 'closed' sign, she stood there for a moment staring and wondering where Luke was. He must have really felt bad that he didn't open the diner she thought. She saw movement and looked in as she saw a figure coming down the stairs, she pressed her face against the glass and saw Nicole. 'What the hell is she doing here?' she thought. She was instantly annoyed and curious as to why Nicole had been in Luke's apartment at all and especially at this time of the morning.

Nicole came to the front door of the diner and opened it to find Lorelai standing there.

"Lorelai hi" Nicole said with no emotion, she had never really approved Luke's relationship with her and didn't like her very much because of it.

"Hey Nicole" Lorelai said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"How are you?"

"F-Fine, Good, I'm fine and you?" Lorelai managed to get out.

"I'm good"

"That's good" Lorelai said, not knowing quite what to say or how to ask why she was here.

"So why's the diner not open?"

"I told Luke to take the day off, he's in bed, he didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh okay, is he okay?" Lorelai said, feeling like she had just been slapped across the face.

"Yeah he'll be fine, I left him in bed so he'll be fine when he gets some sleep. Anyway I'm late for a meeting, bye" Nicole said as she gave her a small smile and walked past Lorelai.

Lorelai stood there in shock for a few minutes just trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She felt the tears coming to her eyes as she stood in the doorway, 'How could he be with _her_? How could he jump into bed with _her _after what had happened last night?' she thought as she wiped the tears from her eyes and stared up at his apartment window.


	13. Big Jumps & Wrong Conclusions

**Chapter 13: Big jumps and Wrong Conclusions**

Lorelai got to the Inn about eleven or so. Sookie had been impatiently waiting for her so that she could find out what was going on.

"Hi" A glum voice said entering the kitchen.

"Hey hon" Sookie said as she walked over to Lorelai.

"Wow, that bad?" Sookie said as she noticed Lorelai's tear streaked face.

"Yeah it is" Lorelai said as she put her head in her hands.

"Shush" Sookie said soothingly before shouting "Get me a cup of coffee over here...stat!" to which Lorelai laughed slightly but it came out as more of a sob.

"Tell me what happened"

"Well Luke and Dean got into a fight last night and stupid me tried to stop it which I did... unfortunately I stopped it right in front of Luke's fist" Lorelai said as she turned her head and showed Sookie the bruise on her cheek. Sookie gasped, "... so then Babette saw so no doubt it's all over town by now. I didn't get talking to Luke, he just left. So I go to the diner this morning to talk to him and who do I run into but... Nicole." Lorelai said, she spat out her name. "So I'm talking to her and she's saying how she left Luke in bed because apparently he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.... I wonder why... so I ask why the diner isn't open and get this because 'she told him to take the day off'" Lorelai said using air quotes for the last bit.

"Wow" Sookie said as she sat down in the stool next to Lorelai.

"Yeah so that's that I guess" Lorelai said sadly.

"I can't believe Luke would do that" Sookie said astonished.

"Yeah well me neither but there you go" Lorelai said. 'I knew I shouldn't have got into a relationship with Luke, especially with him on the rebound' Lorelai thought as she quietly sipped the coffee that had been set down in front of her.

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"Not right now"

"But soon?" Sookie said, she thought there must be some simple explanation to all this, musn't there? I mean Luke had wanted Lorelai for so long, why would he throw that all away?

A while later Lorelai managed to clean herself up and start working, she was already way behind. The day went slowly for her, she couldn't get her mind off Luke and the smug smile that Nicole had when she had been leaving Luke's that morning.

* * *

Luke woke up about midday, his headache still there but overall he felt better that he had gotten some sleep, he knew as soon as he remembered the previous night he would feel bad again though. He knew he had to speak to her sometime, he just needed to figure out what to say. Luke got up and took a shower to clean the stench of beer off him and to try and make himself feel a bit better... it didn't work. He got dressed in his usual flannel uniform and headed downstairs, He saw a note on the door of his apartment as he was leaving.

'_Feel Better, Nicole x'_

He scrunched it up and threw it in the bin on his way downstairs. He saw a few people outside waiting for the diner to open, he knew he would have to face them sometime but he decided to leave it another twenty minutes. He cleaned the counters and opened up around 12.30.

"Hey Luke" Kirk said as he entered the diner to which Luke grunted.

"Luke sugar how are you? Have you spoken to Lorelai yet?" Babette said before Miss Patty rushed in behind them.

"Luke, what happened with Dean? Did he try and hurt Lorelai? You sure gave her a shiner anyway"

Luke knew this had all been coming, the word had probably been spread the second he had left, he wondered how farfetched the actual story had become by now, this town could turn even the simplest story into something weird and wonderful.

"Leave me alone all of you" Luke said loudly and impatiently. They all knew that this probably wasn't the best time to talk to Luke, he looked like he would kill them all if they mentioned the 'L' word again.

The day was the slowest day he had ever had in the diner. He had to deal with the stares of people all day as they whispered to each other, usually he would ignore the talk of the town but when it was about him he couldn't especially about this. He felt like he was being eaten up inside every time he thought about it. He was pretty sure that Lorelai wouldn't show her face around the diner for a few days.

**About 9pm that evening.**

Lorelai had just arrived home, she had worked on longer at the Inn since she was in late and had lots to catch up on, she just wanted to keep her mind off things... mainly Luke. She ordered pizza and then took some ice-cream out of the freezer and started to eat as she waited for the pizza to arrive, she decided that tonight should be her time to wallow. The phone rang, she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer it, it could have been Luke or even worse... her mother!

"Hello" she said trying to swallow the ice-cream which resulted in a coughing fit as she choked on it.

"Hi you okay?" Luke's voice said on the other end. There was silence as he waited for her to say something and she waited for him.

"Just choked but I'm fine"

"Lorelai, I can't say how sorry I am for what happened, I didn't want it to be like this. I never meant to hurt you." Luke said in a soft tone that he only reserved to her.

"Yea well it's better it happened now than further down the line" she said coldly as he sat in silence.

"What do you mean?"

I was thinking that it's probably best if we are just friends" Lorelai said, she didn't want to give Luke the chance to tell her about Nicole first.

"Lorelai, c'mon, we can work this out" Luke said pleadingly, he couldn't believe she was ending it before it had barely even begun.

"This is for the best Luke"

"It was a one-time thing Lorelai, I wasn't thinking straight you have to believe that"

"Luke... I just can't really believe you would do that after what happened, it's like I didn't even know you or something" Lorelai said now with the tears welling up in her eyes as she lied to him.

"I understand" he said sadly as he gritted his teeth, and hung up the phone.

"Okay, bye" she said as she hung up the phone.

She sat back on her bed, not really believing that her and Luke had just broken up. She knew it was a stupid idea after only a few weeks but there had been something different for her with Luke, 'I thought we could go the distance' she thought. She really needed someone right now, but she wasn't sure who to call.... She had usually gone to Luke when she needed to talk to someone. She picked up the phone and dialled the familiar number.

"_Hello"_

"Chris?" Lorelai said crying.

"_What's up Lor?"_ he asked with real concern in his voice, he always knew when something wasn't right with her.

"Me and Luke just broke up"

"_How come?" he asked surprised._

"Let's just say his ex-wife and him are on better terms than I thought"

"_Man, that sucks..."_

"Yeah"

"_Well he's the one losing out Lor"_

"Thanks Chris. I just really wanted to talk to someone" she said as she wiped her eyes. She loved the way just talking to Chris sometimes could make her feel better, he was the only person she had thought of calling. She didn't want to call Rory and upset her when she was away, she would fill her in when she got back.

"_You can call me anytime. Are you gonna be okay?"_

"Yeah I'll be fine" she replied, 'I will be fine... won't I?' she thought.

"_Well if you need anything I'm here okay?"_

"Okay thanks Chris" she said tearfully.

"Bye" she said as she hung up the phone.

Chris set the phone down, he hated to hearing Lorelai upset on the phone and not being able to anything because she was so far away. He felt bad that things hadn't worked out for them and she was upset, he hated hearing her upset but in a way he felt good because he felt like it had given him a second chance with her. 'Is this a sign?' he thought. She had called him after all...

Luke sat up in his apartment staring at the phone as he had been since he hung up ten minutes ago, why would she do this? Didn't she believe that it was an accident? He would never have hurt her on purpose. He sat in there in shock, he couldn't believe that after all these years of waiting that it just had ended with a phone call...

* * *

The next morning Lorelai woke up early, she was really tired, she hadn't been sleeping well the last few nights because of everything that was going on. She went downstairs and started to make coffee, when she was waiting she decided to go outside and collect the mail. She put her slippers on and walked to the front door, she opened it and was surprised when she saw a small bunch of flowers lying by her feet on the front porch. She looked down curiously, were they from Luke? She wondered. She knelt down and picked them up and smelt their fresh sweet scent before she took the card out to read it.

_Sorry about the fight, I hope you're okay. Dean_

She felt the sides of her mouth tug upwards as she read it, 'He really is a good kid' she thought, although part of her was still disappointed that they hadn't been from Luke. She went back inside and got dressed for the Inn, she wanted to avoid Luke's for the next few days until things calmed down.

**About a week later...**

"Mom!" an excited voice shouted.

"Rory!" Lorelai said as she ran downstairs, they both hugged for a minute and Lorelai's eyes started to well up as she hugged her. They pulled back and smiled.

"I can't believe you're crying, I thought you wanted me home!" Rory said sarcastically.

"You're never leaving again, I mean it!"

"Except for Yale next week"

"Mmm I was thinking, maybe you should give that whole thing a miss, I mean who cares about stupid college anyway? We'll freak to Hollywood and make us famous"

"Okay, I was getting a bit tired of it anyway" Rory said as Lorelai hugged her again.

"Hello Lorelai" Emily said as she came to the doorway before turning to Rory, "You should really wait until the car comes to a complete stop before you jump out" Emily said shaking her head.

"Hi Mom"

"Sorry Grandma" Rory said apologetically.

"So are you going to invite me in or do you want me to die of the cold out here?"

"Mmm there's a tough one" Lorelai said with a frown on as if she was deep in thought, "You wanna come in Mom?" Lorelai asked smiling at her mother as she rolled her eyes.

"Finally" Emily said walking past Lorelai and Rory.

"It is looking tidy" Emily said in a friendly tone that Lorelai had rarely heard before.

"Thanks mom" Lorelai said genuinely.

"... yes well it wouldn't be hard... it's usually such a pig sty" Emily said matter-of-factly. Lorelai shot her a look of death and was about to say something back before Rory interrupted, acting as the buffer between them as usual.

"So grandma are you going to see grandpa tonight?"

"Yes I'm going to visit him later" Emily said smiling.

"Booty call" Lorelai mumbled to Rory as she gave her a dirty look, 'UGH' she thought as she just realised what she had just implied!

"You tired?" Lorelai asked changing the subject.

"No I slept on the plane for a bit, I am starving though"

"You wanna order pizza? Or Chinese?"

"Can we go to Luke's?" Rory asked. She really wanted to get some of his coffee and burgers, and truthfully so did Lorelai, she had been living on pizza and Chinese for a week.

"Um you sure? We could just get some pizza?"

"You know I know a great restaurant in Hartford we could go to, it has the best salad" Emily said.

"On second thought let's go to Luke's" Lorelai said. She knew that her mom wouldn't be likely to join them if they went there.

"Fine" Emily stated.

"Let me just go and say hello to my room first" Rory said as she went to her room and began the whole process she had done the previous year of saying hello to every piece of clothing that she had left behind, not forgetting the socks!

"So you wanna come Mom?" Lorelai asked, knowing the answer would be no but she knew if she didn't ask at least that her Mom would make her pay for it later.

"No that's okay. I will get the driver to leave the two of you off though"

"That's okay we can walk"

"No you will freeze"

"Well we'll drive"

"Well Lorelai what would be the point of driving if I can give you a lift?" Emily said as her voice got higher in pitch as it always did when her and Lorelai were beginning to get into one of their arguments about something.

"Fine mom"

About ten minutes later they all left the house for the diner, Lorelai hadn't got the chance to tell Rory about Luke yet since her mother had been there. They jumped out of the car as it rolled up to the diner.

"Driving in style" Lorelai said as she grinned as the limousine pulled away.

"Sure is" Rory said grinning as she walked into the diner. She saw Luke walking with some plates to a table, he had his back to them and obviously hadn't seen them enter.

"Hi Luke" Rory said.

"Rory... hi" he said grinning as she walked over and gave him a hug, he patted her on the back and looked over at Lorelai who just stared at them both.

"How was Europe?"

"Great. I brought you back a present?"

"Is it Jam?" he asked grinning.

"Nope sorry but I hope this is a good constellation prize" she said smiling as she handed him the gift bag. He opened it and grinned at her as he took it out and examined them. It was a blue short sleeved flannel shirt and a set of socks each saying each day of the week.

"Thanks" he said as he half hugged her again.

"Okay you two enough already" Lorelai said as she walked over smiling. She loved that Rory was home but she knew she was going have to tell her what had happened between her and Luke and she had already made herself sick going over the details in her head.

Luke and Lorelai locked eyes for a minute before she turned her gaze to Rory, 'What is he thinking? She thought as he thought the same about her. Lorelai and Rory sat down at the table, Rory gave her mom a strange look, something was going on between her and Luke and she wanted to know what it was.

"What do you want? It's on the house" he said looking at Rory. Lorelai just looked at Rory trying hard not to act strangely but doing a very bad job of it.

"Burger, fries, ice-cream, pie and coffee"

"Yes lots and lots of coffee" Lorelai said, she needed to get her fix of Luke's coffee that she had been avoiding. Luke nodded and walked back to the kitchen to get their orders.

"So...." Rory asked.

"What?" Lorelai asked innocently.

"What's going on with you and Luke? I sensed something was up, so what is it? Trouble in paradise or are you still doing the undercover thing and don't want the town to know" Rory said playfully.

"We broke up" Lorelai said as she fiddled with her cutlery.

"What? How come?" she asked, clearly shocked.

"It just... wasn't right" Lorelai said frowning, 'It was right for me.... Why wasn't I enough for him?' Lorelai thought.

"There must be a reason, c'mon mom", "Oh you have a little something on your cheek mom" Rory said as she caught the side of her mom's face. The bell on the diner door rang and they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey"

"Dad?" Rory said turning around to see Chris walking up to them, she got up and hugged him tightly.

* * *

**_Hey, I hope you're all liking the story.... yet again Chris returns! Read on to find out what happens next! I will try and get the next chapter up for tomorrow or monday. READ AND REVIEW :)_**


	14. Scene in a Diner

**CHAPTER 14: Scene in a Diner**

"Didn't I tell you not to grow anymore without me?"

"Well I tried but..." she said smiling at her dad. Chris turned round to Lorelai who had stood up to greet him.

"Hey Chris" Lorelai said smiling as they kissed each other on the cheek and hugged. Christopher held on for a bit longer than natural, he felt like since she had broken up with Luke that they had another chance for something great. She noticed it too but she liked that he was here to see Rory come home and his presence had always brought some level of comfort to her.

"Sorry I wasn't here earlier but the traffic was so bad"

"It's okay we're glad you're here" Lorelai said truthfully.

"Well I couldn't wait to see you so I drove up" Chris said grinning at Rory as they sat down at the table, Chris sitting in the middle chair between Lorelai and Rory.

"What about me?"

"Well it was a tough choice coming here at all, knowing you would be here but we all have to make sacrifices" he said sarcastically as Lorelai pouted at him.

"Mean!" she said still pouting.

"How did you know we were here?" Rory asked curiously.

"I have a private investigator watching your every move and he informed me of your position"

"Or you went to our house and saw we weren't there and tried here?" Lorelai said as she smiled at Chris.

"Yeah but isn't the other story so much cooler!"

"Lorelai what happened your face?" Chris asked in a serious concerned tone as he noticed the bruise.

"Shucks you do know how to make a girl feel special" Lorelai said in an accent trying to deflect the question by using her humour.

"I meant the bruise on your cheek"

"Wow how stupid am I. I thought it was just something on your face" Rory said as her and Chris both stared at Lorelai's face.

"Jeez you two do I look like the Mona Lisa or any other type of exhibition"

"What happened your face Mom" Rory asked just as Luke brought the food to the table.

"Well I got mugged by Robert Downey Jr, he just got out of rehab and thought I was a dealer"

"Mom"

"Rory!" she said, her stare screaming 'Drop it!"

Luke walked away quickly, he couldn't even face her right now. Rory and Chris soon changed the subject knowing she would tell them what happened later. Chris walked up to the counter a few minutes later to give Luke his order since he hadn't come back to their table, he had been avoiding it like the plague.

"I'll have a burger and fries and three coffees please" Chris said eyeing Luke. He had seen the awkwardness between him and Lorelai, obviously it hadn't been a great break up he thought to himself.

"Hey Sugar. How's the face? Are you and Luke talking again? I saw him today and he looked awful, are you two friends again? Did ya hear? Dean and the little Mrs have split and he's back with his parents" Babette said as she rushed in and sat beside Lorelai.

"Rory! Hey how was Europe?" Babette asked as she noticed Rory.

"Luke and I are back to normal" was all that Lorelai could get out as she got a questioning look from Rory.

"We all know he didn't mean it, another teeny bit and it would have been a black eye though" Babette said as she looked at Lorelai's cheek.

"What?!" Chris said as he heard the conversation.

"God" Lorelai said as put her hands over her face.

"Who hit you?" Chris asked getting angry.

Lorelai moved her hands away from her face, she looked over at Luke, her vision was blurred as the tears formed in her eyes. She stood up and walked out of the diner quickly.

"Mom" Rory shouted as she ran out after her.

Meanwhile Chris turned back around to Luke with an angry look on his face, he had seen the glance over at Luke, that is why they had broken up he thought as he saw shame painted all over his face.

"I mightn't have treated her the best but at least I never hit her" Chris spat at Luke as they squared up.

"It was an accident" Luke said defensively.

"You lay a hand on her again I swear to God" Chris said angrily before he turned round and followed Rory and Lorelai out of the diner, he got protective but he hated the idea of anyone hurting either Rory or Lorelai in that way. As the Michael Jackson song said, he was a lover... not a fighter so that whole scene with Luke had been a bit strange for him.

"Mom?" Rory asked as she began crying.

"I'm okay Rory" Lorelai said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What happened Mom?" Rory asked. A few seconds later Chris ran and caught up with them. He put his arm around Lorelai as they walked home and she told them both the whole story.

Luke stood in the diner as he watched Chris leave, he had wanted to run out after Lorelai to check that she was okay but he knew that he couldn't.

"Everyone out!" he shouted as he started to clear the plates off the tables, luckily the dinner time rush had just ended so there were only a few people in. There were a few annoyed murmers but he didn't care, he needed to be alone right now.

**Later that night...**

Rory had just gone to bed, she needed to be alone as well, she had just got her head around what had happened with Luke and her mom and she needed to think about Dean and what Babette had said to her. Meanwhile Lorelai and Chris sat in the kitchen drinking Coffee in silence.

"So what happens now?" he asked seriously.

"Well we finish our coffee and go and eat some more pizza"

"Are you gonna be okay?" 

"I'm fine Chris really. We'd only been seeing each other for a few weeks so it's no big deal" Lorelai said casually, she was lying to him and herself.

"Well I'm gonna stay a while and make sure"

"I'm fine Chris really. You don't have to stay"

"I want to"

"Well just don't expect to be my babysitter" she said grinning.

**The next day... **

Lorelai got to the Inn early that day, she had left both Rory and Chris asleep, they had stayed up late last night. As she entered the Inn Sookie ran out of the kitchen towards her.

"Wow there Sookie, slow down or we're gonna have some road kill on our hands" she said grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Sorry" she said giggling before she turned to Lorelai with a concerned, "So how are you?" she said putting her hand on Lorelai's arm and rubbing it comfortingly.

"So... you've spoken to Babette already" Lorelai said rolling her eyes, the speed at which news could travel in Stars Hollow still managed to astound her.

"Yeah well we talked ya know and she just happened to mention what had happened last night at the diner"

"Um hum"

"So Chris is back"

"Um hum"

"I think you have spent too much time around Luke, you're becoming monosyllabic" Sookie said before she noticed the frown that Lorelai formed when she mentioned his name. It was so obvious that they both still had strong feelings for each other, regardless of everything that had happened.

"Nothing has happened with Chris, he came back to see Rory and he'll probably be leaving soon and as for Luke... we're friends"

"Except that you have been avoiding the diner for the past week and probably haven't had a proper conversation with him"

"Not true. We talked last night"

"Um hmm" Sookie said knowingly.

"We did!"

"Okay then what did he say?" 

"He said 'What do you want?' and I said I wanted burger and fries and lots and lots of coffee" she said grinning.

"Well I'm glad it was meaningful"

"Isn't the topic of coffee always meaningful?"

The rest of the morning Lorelai spent her time alone, she didn't really want to have Sookie nagging on to her about Luke and Michel whining about... well pretty much everything. She liked to keep herself busy when she was trying hard not to think about stuff. How would it be with Christopher now? I mean just a few weeks ago he had told her he loved her and wanted to start over, now that her and Luke were obviously not getting back together did she want to be with him?

Chris woke up about 10.30 when Rory sat on him, he laughed and threw the duvet over her and refused to let her out until she apologised.

"Apologise and I'll let you out!" he said laughing.

"No"

"You're as stubborn as you're Mom"

"Fine I'm so very sorry Father" she said sarcastically as he lifted the duvet off her.

"No actually you're mother would have sat in there until I gave up"

"She sure would" Rory said laughing as she sat on the couch.

"So has she said much about Luke?" Rory asked as she saw her Dad looking thoughtful after they mentioned her name. 

"Nah not really, pretty much what you heard just"

"She hasn't really been herself anyway I know that" Rory said looking slightly sad.

"She'll be fine Rory don't worry"

"Yeah I know, I just hate that I'm going back to Yale soon and she's going to be alone again"

"Hey she won't be alone, she has a lot of friends, you're not that far away and I might start calling up more just to check on her. Make sure she's not having any wild parties and not inviting us!"

"Thanks dad" she said as she gave him a quick hug before standing up. "Okay I am officially starved, wanna go for breakfast?"

"To Luke's?" he said uneasily.

"Well feel free to search the cupboards for something to eat but it's a lost cause trust me"

"Won't it be weird?"

"This is between Luke and Mom, they'll work it out, they always do" Rory said positively. In her mind this was just another one of their fights which they would get over, hopefully a lot sooner than the big one that they had after the accident with Jess she thought.

A short while later they were walking up the street to the diner, Chris felt a bit uneasy after what he had said to Luke last night. Luke was standing at the counter talking to Kirk and he seemed to be getting more agitated as the conversation went on. He looked up when he saw Rory and her dad walk in, he was nervous about having to speak to Rory, she probably knew by now everything that had happened.

"Hey Luke"

"Hi" he said grinning slightly, she didn't appear to be ignoring him so that was good.

"Chris" he said gruffly.

"Luke" Chris said as he nodded his head before turning back to the menu.

"What d'ya want?"

"Pancakes please, dad you should get them, Luke makes the best pancakes"

"Ok guess I'll have them too then"

Luke scribbled the order down on his pad and walked back into the kitchen, he hated that Chris was here, he couldn't help but wondering if he was planning on sticking around now that Lorelai was single. He looked outside and saw Dean coming in the direction of the diner. 'O god' he thought as he looked between Rory and Dean, he wanted to go out and stop him but after what had happened last time they had met he decided to do nothing. A few seconds later the bell on the diner door rang as Dean walked in, both Rory and him stared at each other for a few seconds.

Chris turned around when he noticed that Rory's attention was elsewhere. Rory got up and walked over to him slowly, Dean gave a small smile when he saw her. Rory had no clue what she was planning on saying to him but she knew that they would have to talk sometime, he had got his hair cut and was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt.

"Hi" she said nervously as she fidgeted with her hands.

"Hi Rory"

"How was Europe?" he said quickly showing his nervousness.

"It was good, I had a good time, well as much as you can when you go with your Grandma" Rory said as she laughed nervously. Neither of them knew what to say, the whole diner was watching their every move.

"Dean"

"Rory"

They both said at the same time and laughed.

"You first" she said.

"Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?"

"Um okay, but not right now" she said as she motioned to her dad behind her, Dean looked behind her and saw her dad who didn't look too happy, though he looked like a ray of perfect sunshine compared to the look that Luke was giving him.

"Okay, can I call round tonight about 7?" he asked hopefully.

"Um... sure" Rory said not really sure how her Mom or Dad would react to that.

"Okay see you then" he said as she turned and walked back her table and ignored the stares of the onlookers.

A while later they were just finishing eating, it had been awkward for a while when Dean had left but soon enough the conversation got back to normal. Just as they were getting up to leave Rory said "Dad can I just meet you at Doose's"

"Um sure okay" he said before leaving.

Luke was standing at the counter and noticed the Chris had left and Rory was still there, he hoped that she wouldn't want to talk to him. He didn't need to be reminded about it all over again, he just wanted to try and get back to normal... back to watching Lorelai from a far.

"Luke, can I talk to you for a minute"

"...Okay" he said worried about what she was planning to say.

"In private" Rory added as she motioned outside.

"Caesar I'll be a few minutes" Luke shouted before he followed Rory outside.

"How are you?"

"Um... fine" he said confused.

"Luke, what happened? I thought you and my mom were going great, how did that change? Now you don't even talk!" She said obviously tired of small talk.

"We were" he said looking at his feet.

"So..."

"It just didn't work out" he said gruffly.

"But why, I mean you've waited years for this, you're like the Stars Hollow Ross and Rachael, what happened? What did she do? You really hurt her Luke and I hate that she's hurting" Rory said as she started to get upset.

"I know, I do too" he said quietly.

"I just think you should have told her about it before she found out that way" Rory said with some resentment in her voice as she turned and walked across the street leaving Luke standing there with a confused look on his face. What the hell did she mean tell her? Tell her what? Had he missed something?

"And who the hell are Ross & Rachael?" he grumbled as she walked back into the diner.

* * *

**_Hey what have people thought about the last few chapters? I haven't got many reviews so please review or even write me and email __and tell me what you think! Thanks :) Cat x_**


	15. Swings & Things

_**Ok I totally forgot to do a disclaimer! Oops anyway this is the property of genius writer Amy-Sherman Palladino so the only thing that's mine is the story plot!**_

_**A/N: Next chapter up by Sunday 10 September. Please review to let me know if there are people reading it. Also some ideas as to what is going to happen with Luke and Lorelai, and Lorelai and Chris now! Do you want some Rory/Dean in the story too? **_

**CHAPTER 15 – Swings and Things**

That evening Lorelai got home around 5pm, she had got off as early as she could so that she could spend some time with Rory and Chris, she hadn't spent a lot of time with either of them since they both returned. When she got in Chris was doing some work on his computer in the living room and Rory was in her room reading.

"Honey I'm home!" Lorelai shouted half jokingly.

"Hey" Chris said.

"Hey mom" Rory said walking out of her room as she watched her Mom collapse on the sofa.

"You want some coffee?" Chris asked always knowing that it was always one of the best options when she was in this mood.

"Oooh yes please" she said excitedly suddenly having a surge of energy.

"Okay, you too Rory?"

"No I'll just have some herbal tea" Rory said seriously.

"What?" Lorelai said as she shot her daughter a 'What the hell' look.

"I'm kidding" Rory said as she put hers hands up surrendering.

"Don't scare Mommy like that" Lorelai said pouting.

"Sorry"

"You should be, I just used up some energy units having to turn my head and give you the death stare"

"Oh the shame I feel" Rory said sarcastically.

A short while later Lorelai, Rory and Chris were all sitting in the living room drinking coffee, Rory had just told her Mom about Dean coming round to talk, she had been quiet for a few moments before she spoke.

"Oh ... okay ... where are you going?"

"Probably just go for a walk"

"Well... Call me if you need help, we can even make up a signal if you want, like page SOS or something"

"As much as I know that we need a signal for me to escape Dean's clutches I think I can manage" Rory said sarcastically.

They all sat and pretended to watch television for a while, Rory was thinking about her 'meeting' with Dean and what he would say when he saw her, Lorelai was thinking about what would happen between Dean and Rory, and Chris was thinking of both Rory and Lorelai.

**6.10pm**

The doorbell rang, Rory had been sitting nervously in her room for the past twenty minutes waiting for Dean to arrive and as soon as she heard the doorbell she ran to the door before either her Mom or Dad got there before her.

"Hi" Dean said as she opened the door.

"Hi" she said nervously.

"Um you wanna come in?" she said thinking of something to say.

"Is you're dad there?"

"Yes?" she said questioningly.

"I'm fine here" Dean said.

"Hi Dean" Lorelai said as she walked past the front door as she headed from the kitchen to the living room.

"Hi Lorelai" he said nervously trying not to make eye contact.

"Thanks for the flowers and don't worry about the face, it made my mugging story a lot more believable" she said trying to ease the tension a bit, knowing he felt bad. They both looked at her strangely when she mentioned the mugging.

"Emily" Lorelai said grinning wickedly as they both understood instantly that it had just been one of Lorelai's elaborate stories used specifically to wind her Mom up.

"Okay so we're gonna go" Rory said grabbing her jacket.

"Well call me if you're going to be late. And it better be from the scene of the crime you just witnessed or the hospital because you're there after saving someone's life after a terrible accident" she said uneasily, making sure that if they were late they better have a very good reason.

"I won't be late"

"Good to know, see you later"

"Oh and Dean?"

"Yeah?" he asked nervously turning back to her.

"I'm not sure what exactly you've heard but I can tell you that there is no deadly plague present in this house so you don't have to stand a metre away from the door" Lorelai said raising an eyebrow at him before smiling genuinely at him.

"Um... okay thanks" he said as he grinned back.

Lorelai watched them walk down the steps before she sighed and walk back inside the house.

* * *

Luke was working in the diner, it was pretty busy but both Lane and Caesar were working so it wasn't too bad. He had only asked Lane to work because he knew that she needed the money badly, she had even asked him if she could take home some day old bread yesterday because the guys had eaten everything else. Tonight had been pretty quiet regarding the town gossips, Babette, Taylor and Miss Patty hadn't been in since the morning and Kirk had left early to go out with Lulu, he liked it that way. 'I spoke too soon' he thought a few minutes later when he saw Sookie enter the diner, knowing she was bound to question him about Lorelai.

"Hey" Sookie said cheerily as she sat down on a stool in front of the computer to which he grunted in reply.

"What do you want?"

"Omelette and coffee thanks" she said as she watched him scribble on his pad. He was looking scruffier than usual, he hadn't shaved in days and apparently hadn't slept as she noticed the small bags under his eyes.

"How are you?" Sookie asked in concern.

"Fine" he grumbled as he poured her coffee.

"Luke, you and Lorelai will make up and be friends again soon, we all know you will"

"It was an accident Sookie, I meant to hit Dean not her, I would never..." he said gruffly as he trailed off at the end.

"Hon, she knows it was ... but it wasn't that part which she was annoyed about ya know?"

"What do you mean?" he said lifting his head to look at her for the first time.

"She was just upset about Nicole"

"What the hell does Nicole have to do with any of this?" he said still in a state of confusion.

"Um – a lot!"

"How?"

"Your – sleepover - with - Nicole" Sookie said slowly as if he had trouble understanding English.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he said this time his tone with some anger and a degree of urgency in it.

"Well Lorelai came to talk to you after the fight to tell you everything was fine and she knew that it was an accident and she saw Nicole come down from your apartment looking slightly dishevelled and she somehow led her to believe that you two had just... well you know"

"WHAT?!" Luke said loudly as everyone in the diner turned round and looked at him, suddenly everything started to make sense to him.

"I said Lorelai came..."

"I heard you but that's crazy!" Luke said as he interrupted her.

"You – didn't – sleep – with – Nicole?" Sookie said in realisation.

"Hell no!"

"I had a few beers, and I had fallen asleep in here and Nicole came by to drop off some of my stuff that I had forgotten, she got me some water and helped me get up to my apartment..." he said drifting off as everything started to make sense. 'Poor Luke' Sookie thought as she watched him.

"You need to talk to her Luke" Sookie said after a few minutes of silence. How could she have believed he slept with her when he was so obviously crazy about Lorelai? She thought.

"I know"

"So go!!!"

"Now?"

"No next week, of course now!" Sookie said as she walked behind the counter and already started to make herself at home. He usually would have argued with her but he knew that this wasn't the time to give her the rant about his sacred space behind HIS counter.

* * *

Lorelai and Chris went outside to sit on the porch for a while, pretending to be waiting for pizza but truthfully they were looking for Rory. They sat down on the porch swing, she leaned against him and curled her legs up under herself as his arm lay loosely around the back of the swing.

"So how's Georgia?"

"She's good. It's so strange, I didn't realise how fast they grow up even at that age"

"Like you wouldn't believe, I used to wish I could keep Rory in a box"

"You tried didn't you?" he said laughing.

"Yes but she didn't take to it and social services were getting involved... apparently it's against the law" she said as he laughed. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I wonder where Rory is" Chris asked curiously.

"Probably half way to Vegas"

"Well now my mind's at ease"

"Aww look at you being the protective dad, you just need a shotgun or something and you would totally be the 'psycho dad package', but work on that evil glare a bit. Have you seen 'Meet the parents'? Man that dad is scary!"

"I'll try and do that" he said sarcastically.

"Well if you need any help I can lend you the movie"

"I need to make up for all the times when I didn't play the psychotic overprotective father" he said quietly.

"Listen Chris, Rory is glad you're here ... and so am I"

"Plus you just cant seem to buy pillows this comfortable these days" she said snuggling into his shoulder as he moved his arm from the back of the swing and put it around her as they sat there for a few minutes just thinking.

"Lorelai" he whispered.

"Yeah?" she said as she lifted her head to look at him. She remembered the last time they had been in this position with each other, the infamous eve of Sookie's wedding. He stared at her intently as he moved his face closer to her, she stared back as she saw what he was doing, not quite sure whether she wanted him to kiss her or not. Their lips met as he kissed her softly and waited for her to respond, she turned her head more towards his and kissed him back on the lips softly. He moved his hand behind her neck as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her hard on the lips.

* * *

Luke walked to Lorelai's slowly as he wrote in his head what he was planning to say to her, he still couldn't believe that she had thought that he had cheated on her. He was getting strangely excited as he walked as he thought about seeing her and being able to talk to her again, hoping that once she knew the truth they could get back to the way they were. He started to slow down as he got nearer to her house, he stopped when he saw movement on the porch. He narrowed his eyes as he looked through the darkness as he tried to make out the figures, he wouldn't have been able to see them at all if it hadn't been for the porch light being on.

A lump formed in his throat as he saw the all too familiar scene of Chris and Lorelai kissing, except this time she didn't seem to be close to pulling away. He watched them for a few seconds as Chris pulled her into him, he swung around quickly and walked away angrily down the street with his head hung, watching the road as he walked back to the diner.

"Luke?"

"What?" he snapped before he turned around and saw who had been talking.

"Sorry – I thought you were someone else"

"Are you okay?" Rory asked concerned.

"No"

"Why, what's wrong? Is mom okay?" Rory said getting worried as she looked up the street in the direction of her house.

"She's perfectly fine" he said snidely.

"Well what's happened?"

"I gotta go" he said as he started to turn and walk away when he noticed Dean for the first time beside Rory. He glared at him before he continued to walk quickly down the street.

* * *

Chris and Lorelai heard voices as they turned and saw Rory and Dean coming up the street. Lorelai jumped up off the swing quickly and wiped her mouth as they walked up the driveway, they had been talking so hadn't seen what had been happening on the porch swing just a few seconds ago.

"Hey" both Lorelai and Chris said together with guilty looks on their faces.

"Hi" both Rory and Dean replied.

"You kids have fun?"

"Yea, Dean knows this great bar where they give you two shots for the price of one so we played some drinking games with some truckers who stopped in – really nice guys" Rory said sarcastically.

"No we didn't. We didn't go to any bars" Dean said nervously before he glanced at Chris who was laughing at him.

"Dammit, I was hoping to get the name of the bar off you" Lorelai said grinning.

"You wanna come in Dean, remember there is NO PLAGUE"

"No I should get going, but thanks" he said.

"Okay well see you then" Lorelai said as her and Chris walked back into the house. Rory entered a few minutes later after saying goodnight to Dean. Chris went upstairs to the bathroom when the phone started ringing, Lorelai answered.

"Hello"

"_Lorelai?"_

"Sookie?"

"_What happened?"_

"With..." Lorelai said smiling funnily at Rory.

"_With Luke"_

"Umm Sookie hon have you been drinking?"

"_Didn't you just see Luke?"_

"No, why?" she asked confused as to what all this was about. Her and Luke had barely spoken since the break up.

"_He told me he was going over to your place to tell you"_ she said quickly as Lorelai struggled to understand her high pitch screeches.

"Sookie, calm down, tell me what?" she said very confused.

"_LUKE DIDN'T SLEEP WITH NICOLE!"_

"What?"

"_He thought you broke it off 'cos of the fight with Dean, Nicole called round that morning to leave some stuff of his off and he had been drinking a lot obviously upset about you and she got him some water and brought him up to his apartment to sleep it off and she left. They aren't back together!"_ Sookie said excitedly before she gasped for breath.

"Oh my god" Lorelai said putting her hand over her mouth.

"_He was supposed to be going over there to talk"_

"I gotta go Sook – I'll talk to you tomorrow" Lorelai said quickly as she hung up.

Lorelai heard Chris coming downstairs and shot a look at Rory and shook her head motioning to the staircase as she put a finger to her lips – Rory understood.

"Who was that?"

"Um just Sookie"

"Ya know what guys – I'm pretty tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed" Lorelai said as she faked a yawn.

"Me too" Rory said as she also faked a yawn.

"Okay" Chris said slowly.

"Mom can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Sure hon"

They both walked over and kissed Chris on the cheek and said goodnight before they walked upstairs, they were going as fast as they could up the stairs without it looking suspicious to Chris – they had a lot to talk about! Chris stood at the foot of the stairs looking at them strangely as he wondered what was going on.

"What did Sookie say?" Rory asked as she shut the door to the bedroom.

"Okay – but you might wanna sit down" she said patting the bed beside where she sat which Rory occupied.

"Okay – now go!"

"Well you know when I said that Nicole had been coming down from Luke's apartment and that they... ya know"

"Yes Mom" Rory said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well I kinda jumped to the wrong conclusions a bit – she had only been dropping some stuff off" Lorelai said as she frowned.

"Mom!"

"I know!!"

"How could you just assume? I thought she had actually told you"

"She insinuated it!"

"Well what did he say when he was here?"

"He wasn't here! God what's with everyone thinking he was here?"

"Well when I was walking home he was coming from our house so I just assumed"

"You saw Luke? We have been in here for at least two minutes and you didn't think to mention this sooner?" Lorelai almost shouted.

"I just did"

"So what did he say?"

"Well he didn't stop to talk really, he didn't even notice me at first but he was really pissed about something". When she heard that Lorelai put her hands over her face and could feel her eyes start to well up with tears as she thought of all the trouble that she had caused and even worst, she suspected Luke had caught her kissing Christopher ... again.


	16. Insomnia & Aneurisms

_**Hey I hope everyone likes this chapter, it's short but the next one will be up in a few days. If anyone has any ideas or just general feedback just review, what do people think about me putting Rory in a bit more and adding Jess into the mix? I'm not sure because I kinda wanted to keep it a Luke/Lorelai piece. Give me your thoughts :) Thanks for all the feedback so far, love you guys for it :)**_

**CHAPTER 16 – Insomnia & Aneurisms**

The day after the night before

Lorelai woke up around 5am that day, she had barely slept that night thinking about Luke and Chris, what would happen now? She knew that she would always care about Chris but did she love him? She got out of bed slowly trying to make sure that she wasn't going to wake Rory as she slept soundly beside her. She looked down at herself as she saw that in all the 'chaos' that had happened the night before she had just fallen asleep in her clothes! She tip-toed down the stairs slowly as she saw Chris still asleep on the sofa, she smiled as she looked at him curled in a ball sleeping soundly.

She walked into the kitchen and tried to be quiet as she started to make coffee. A few minutes later she sat down at the table and started to think what she would do now. Luke was probably at the diner right now, she so wanted to see him and talk to himâ€ and kiss him. How could she think that he would cheat on her? Was she crazy, she knew in her heart that he wouldn't do that to her but she didn't listen to it, she just jumped to stupid conclusions. 'Now he probably hates me'

"Morning" a voice said as it woke her from her daze.

"Hey – did I wake you?"

"Yea well I heard someone trying to be quiet in the kitchen which didn't work and then I smelt the coffee so I knew it was you"

"Sorry but I needed my fix"

"Why are you up this early?"

"Just couldn't really sleep"

"Any reason"

"Didn't I tell you about my insomnia?"

"No you didn't, sounds tough" he said playing along as usual.

"Yeah it is, I go to my support groups every Tuesday night". He started to pour some coffee and came over to the table, he sat down and leaned in a kissed Lorelai softly on the lips. 'What the hell am I doing?' Lorelai thought as she watched him pull back and smile at her.

"Lor, I wanna talk to you about something?"

"Oooh sounds serious"

"Yeah it is kinda" he said nervously.

"Is this about the dirty screensaver I put on your computer?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"Oh nevermind" she said grinning wickedly.

"I know that just a short time ago you were with Luke and you didn't wanna be with me. But I think my break up with Sherry and yours with Lukeâ€ it's like fate and we're supposed to be together ya know? I love you Lor, I've looked for that person for me and I know you're it"

"That serious, this early?" she said attempting to use her humour to avoid the subject again.

"Well I've given it some serious thought. And I really want you to do me a favour.

"Dirty"

"I want you to be my wife, I want you, me and Rory to be a real familyâ€ I want it all with you. Lor will you marry me?" he said ignoring her previous comment as he watched her face turn serious.

"Excuse me?" she said as she tried to stop choking on her coffee.

"I want to marry you Lorelai"

"Um humm" is all Lorela could manage to get out.

"Oh damn I told Sookie I would be over early, and I'm late, I gotta go" Lorelai said as she ran to the hall and grabbed her jacket and bag and shouted that she would be back later. He just watched her leave, he knew this was a massive step and that she would need some time to think about things, but it felt so right now even after everything.

Lorelai ran out to the car and started it as she started to drive to Sookie's. She was driving past Luke's and saw that it was open, she really needed to see him and speak to him right now. She quickly jumped out of the jeep and ran into the diner as she searched for him, she couldn't see him anywhere. Why the hell isn't he here when I'm about to have an aneurism? she thought.

"Luke?" she said loudly as she looked around desperately.

"He's in his apartment" Lane said.

"Thanks hon" Lorelai shouted a she ran upstairs and burst through the door of Luke's apartment.

"Luke?" she shouted as he walked out of the bathroom with no shirt on and a toothbrush in his mouth.

"I need to talk to you"

"I duhn wheys" was all she could make out as she watched him walk back into the bathroom and come out a few moments later with a shirt on and no toothbrush.

"I dunno what to say Luke, I'm sorry"

"For which part?" he said coldly. He knew it was wrong but he wanted her to hurt just a fraction of the amount that she had hurt him.

"All of it. For Nicole making me believe you slept together and not trusting you, for ignoring you the past while and for Chris, I wanted to believe he was the one after I thought you were with Nicole but he's not" she said as her eyes started welling up again.

"What happened between you two?"

"We kissed"

"You kissed?"

"Yes"

"That's all?"

"â€ and he asked me to marry him"

"We were barely broken up and as soon as he came along you two started right up again, Obviously I meant nothing to you. And now he's asked you to marry him? How can you expect me to understand that Lorelai? I mean look how you treated me when you thought I was back with Nicole?" he said angrily.

"I know and I'm sorryâ€but you do mean something to me" she said louder than she had meant too, 'Not a good time to argue with him hon' she thought to herself.

"Just leave me alone" he said as he looked away from her. She turned away from him as she wiped her eyes and started to walk out, she would have fought harder but she didn't know if she could have forgiven Luke if had done everything that she had done to him.

"Luke?" she said just above a whisper as she turned around to look at him, he just stared back at her and didn't say anything.

"I love you" she said just above a whisper as she turned and walked out closing the door behind her.

He walked over to the window and watched her as she walked out of the diner and get in her truck.

"I love you too" he whispered.


	17. Third Time's a Charm

_**Hey I think y'all will like this chapter!!  
**__**  
**__**MM Vermelha**__** - Thanks & I liked your coffee references!!  
**__**ocdwithlhg**__** - Thanks for reviewing, I read your story and I love it, I reviewed!  
**__**Kimmers**__** - Thanks for the continual support :)**_

_**Thanks everyone else who has reviewed I didn't forget about you! Please review and tell me what y'all think of this chapter and any improvements that could me made!**_

**

* * *

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**CHAPTER 17: Third Time's a Charm**

Lorelai sat in her car for a few minutes as she dried her eyes, she hadn't even thought about saying 'I love you' to Luke, it had just come out but it didn't feel wrong. She knew then that she needed to tell Chris, even if Luke and her weren't together it wasn't right to Christopher to lead him on like this when her heart was someone else's. She started the car and drove to Sookie's, she was probably worried after the phone call the previous night.

She knocked on the door for about a minute before a sleepy Sookie opened the door.

"Hi hon" Sookie said as she opened the door and welcomed Lorelai in.

"You look... great" she said as she looked at Lorelai's tear streaked face.

"Matches how I feel"

"What happened?"

"Well Luke saw me kissing Chris when he came over last night, then this morning Chris proposed"

"Wow!"

"Oh that's not all! I just called to see Luke, it's completely over and I hate that it is... Sookie... I think I love him" she said as she started crying again as she sat down at the kitchen table as Sookie gave her as tissue.

"Aw hon, you'll work it out, you just need to tell him how you feel" Sookie said as she hugged Lorelai.

"I did"

"You told him you loved him?" Sookie said surprised, she had never known Lorelai to say those three words to any guy first... or at all.

"Ouch"

"So what did you tell Chris?"

"I pretty much did a Linford Christie and ran outta there"

"Oh"

"Yeah, so I should be getting back" she said wiping her eyes with a tissue and standing up.

"You want a cup of coffee first?"

"Nah that's okay"

"WOW – Things are rough then!"

"I'll always feel something for Chris, I mean I've known him for so long and we have sooo much history, but Luke... he's just... well Luke" Lorelai said as she sat in a daze, she couldn't even describe everything that Luke was to her.

"I know, you're doing the right thing. You and Luke will work it out"

"Maybe" she said doubtfully as she walked towards the door.

"Call me later"

"Okay, bye" she said as she walked down the driveway.

* * *

Lorelai reached home a while later to find Chris lying on the couch watching the news and Rory was still in bed asleep. 

"Hey" he said standing up from the couch as she came in.

"Hi Chris"

"Everything okay with Sookie?"

"Yeah she's great. Listen Chris we have to talk"

"Ah"

"Yeah"

"You wanna cup of coffee?" he said trying to postpone the talk for a bit.

"No thanks"

"So serious talk then"

"Sit down Chris" she said as she walked over to the sofa and motioned for him to sit down too.

"We can't get married."

"Why not? It's right for us, I know it is Lor!" he said in an almost desperate voice.

"Yea well Billy-Bob and Angelina thought they were right and look how that turned out"

"C'mon Lor"

"Chris we can't! We couldn't when you proposed a few years back, we couldn't when we were sixteen and we can't now"

"Why?"

"Because Chris... I'm not in love with you" she said as her eyes started to well up again.

"What about last night?"

"It was us Chris, we kissed and I will always feel something with you because I love you, I do but I'm not IN love with you and I know that which is why this would never work out, for the same reason it didn't work out with you and Sherry"

"You love Luke don't you?" he said quietly as she watched him stare intently at one spot on the kitchen table.

"Yes" she said after a few moments of silence. He sat there for a minute looking at the floor avoiding her gaze.

"I'm sorry" she said finally.

"So am I" he said looking at her.

"I'm gonna go take a shower" he said getting up and heading upstairs as Lorelai sat watching him as he walked upstairs.

**5pm that evening...**

Lorelai arrived home that evening to an empty house, Rory was out and Christopher had left that morning, they had said their awkward goodbye's and he left. It was probably the first time in her life that she was able to watch Christopher leave without having a feeling of 'Did I do the right thing' in her stomach.

Rory arrived home a short while later, they were due at the grandparents for dinner that evening, she had been over at Lane's telling her everything that had happened with Dean.

"Mom?" Rory shouted.

"Hey sweets" Lorelai said coming down the stairs.

"So how are you?"

"I'm... okay"

"You sort stuff out with Luke yet?"

"So what happened with Dean last night, we never really talked" Lorelai said changing the subject as Rory rolled her eyes at her mom's obvious dodge.

"We just talked. He and Lindsay are getting a divorce"

"And..."

"And I dunno what else"

"So you two aren't together?"

"No mom, we just have our own stuff to deal with right now and I'm going back to Yale soon anyway so..."

"Dammit I hoped you had forgotten about that"

"Funnily enough I hadn't"

"Anyway we should get going – Wow feels like we haven't been to Friday night dinners in like forever"

"Yea it has been a while"

"Maybe you should take Emily away to Europe again. Free me from this hell."

"Yes maybe" Rory said as they both walked out the front door.

**7.05pm – The Gilmore residence**

"Your late" Emily stated as she opened the door.

"Lovely to see you too Mom, we're fine, how are you?" Lorelai said sarcastically.

"Hi Rory" Emily said as she smiled at her and walked back into the house as they followed her into the lounge, Lorelai making a face the whole way there.

"Hey Grandpa" Rory said walking over to hug him.

"Hello Rory"

"Hi Dad" Lorelai said as she gave him a small wave, they weren't really 'huggers'.

"Hello Lorelai – can I get you a drink"

"White wine please" Lorelai said smiling.

About twenty minutes later they were all sitting down eating dinner after Emily had insisted on showing them all the pictures she took in Europe, 'Was there any film left over there?' Lorelai thought when she finally got sitting down to dinner.

"So how is the Inn Lorelai? Emily asked.

"Still standing, although it was close after the fire"

"What fire?"

"Sookie accidentally set the curtain on fire but luckily we have very capable kitchen staff and Fred was able to stop it, the curtain was ruined though, poor baby." Lorelai said with a pout.

"Well maybe you just get some of those fire extinguishers around in case"

"Got it covered Mom"

"So when do you go back to Yale Rory?" Richard asked curiously.

They ate dinner slowly that night, they were continually being slammed with questions which made it tough to eat at the same time as talking, Lorelai had tried it but Emily being Emily had soon put a stop to that. They both left around 10.30pm that night and headed back to Stars Hollow, Emily was also not spending the night there, although things did seem better between them both it was obviously not back to normal. They had managed to avoid the subject of separation and Luke that evening, both parties knew that if one was mentioned then so would the other be therefore the safest option was not to speak of either.

"Phew" Lorelai said as she took off her jacket back at their house.

"Yeah that was a long one"

"I think they were trying to make up for all the weeks we weren't there" Lorelai groaned.

"Probably – I'm gonna go to bed now"

"It's sooo early Rory, stay up, we've hardly spent any time together"

"I promise we will but I'm gonna fall asleep soon" she said yawning.

"Okay then but we have to do a lot of stuff together before you go back to Yale"

"Night Mom"

"Night Narcoleptic Girl"

Lorelai sat down and started to flick through the channels but got bored after a while when there was nothing on and decided to take a walk, she knew she should have been tired but strangely she wasn't. She put on her jacket and walked outside.

About half an hour later she was walking through the town square, it was so quiet at this time of night as she looked around the town, she really loved this town, 'I can't imagine living somewhere else' she thought smiling. She saw the light in Luke's on, usually she would have run for coffee but not this time, she couldn't go in there and pretend everything was fine and normal, at least not yet.

* * *

Luke wiped the counter down as he finished closing up for the night, it had been a very long day for him since Lorelai had left. He had heard Patty and Babette talking earlier and knew that Christopher had left town, though for how long? He thought. He walked over to the door to lock up when he saw a familiar figure walking around outside, he stared out at her as she sat on the bench across the street. 

"Here" a familiar voice said as Lorelai looked up at Luke as he held out a coffee cup.

"Thanks" she said genuinely still staring at him wondering what he was thinking about what had happened earlier.

"Why are you out so late?" he asked wondering if perhaps she had been coming to see him again.

"I just felt like a walk"

"Oh okay"

"You're up late too" She said trying to keep the conversation going, she didn't feel like the normal banter they usually had going and she could tell he didn't either.

"Yeah well I didn't think there was much point in going to bed" he said softly and he sat down beside her.

"Why not?"

"I have reasons" he said looking away from her.

"Right... yeah" she said hurt by his comment.

"Well I should go, thanks for the coffee" she said smiling as she got up and walked up the street as Luke sat and watched her leave, wanting to call out to her but he just didn't and then she was out of sight.

* * *

Lorelai got back to the house about ten minutes later, she knew things weren't going to be the same with Luke now, normally she would have tried harder but she knew that she had hurt him and a small part of her knew that she didn't deserve him after how she had treated him. She changed her clothes into a white tank top and track bottoms and went down to the kitchen to get some more coffee before bed. She sat down at the table and drank her coffee, she usually gulped it down but tonight she just sat and sipped it slowly. After what seems like hours but had only actually been twenty minutes she got up and put her cup in the sink and was walking to go back upstairs when she glanced out the glass in the back door. 

"JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS!!" she said loudly her eyes widening when she saw the figure outside. She flung the door open quickly with both a confused and surprised frown on her face.

"What does a heart attack feel like 'cos I think I just had one!" she said loudly.

"Sorry"

"Well if I was dead on the floor from a heart of attack you would have been"

"Can we talk?" Luke asked. He had spent the past half hour walking to her house, after the third turn back he had finally got there, 'Now what will I do?' he thought as he looked at her.

'Didn't we just do that?' she thought but still she agreed and welcomed him in. They stood for what seemed like forever in awkward silence as they waited for each other to talk. 'I have never heard her quiet for this long' he thought as he waited for her to say something.

"So... usually when you wanna talk you would have to... I dunno talk" she said genuinely.

"I gotta go – Sorry about the scare" he said walking out through the back door.

"Luke c'mon" she shouted after him but he just walked on, 'Guess that's it then' she said as her eyes started to well up and she shut the door.

"Dammit" she said out loud as she leaned her head back against the door. She went upstairs, turned off the light and got into bed, wishing that Luke was there with her like he had been before.

* * *

Luke walked down the street, 'Damn why can't I just talk to her?' he thought to himself as he made his way back to the diner. He hated not seeing her and not being able to talk to her, the days at the diner were longer than ever now just knowing that she wasn't going to be in, even if she was just there to annoy him – he still missed her. 

A while later Lorelai had managed to doze off to sleep finally, trying her hardest to keep Luke out of her mind. She suddenly heard a noise as something hit her window, she groaned and rolled back over choosing to ignore it.

'Bang'

'Bang'

'Bang'

"For the love of God" Lorelai said grumpily as she stumbled out of bed and over to the window to look out. She saw Luke bending over outside picking up more stones off the ground to throw at her window. She grabbed her jacket which was slung over a chair and put it on as she put on her trainers and made her way downstairs and out the front door.

"You not run out of rocks yet?"

"It took you long enough" he said gruffly as he looked her up and down and grinned inwardly at how funny she looked, but still beautiful as always.

"Well I'm not really used to men skulking about my house and throwing my rocks at my windows"

"I wasn't skulking"

"Okay whatever you were doing my gentleman caller, you wanna come in?" she asked as she started to shiver.

"Yeah" he said walking in behind her.

"Listen Luke, I'm sorry for what happened I dunno what else to say, it all got so messed up and I know it did and I wish that it hadn't more than anything and we could just go back to the way it was before" she said first before giving him the chance to talk, she didn't want him to leave without saying anything like earlier or without her getting the chance to say anything.

"Before when?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before like when we were friends or... more than that?"

"I miss you Luke and not just as my coffee provider but my best friend and my boyfriend, not that I don't still miss your coffee 'cos I really do! I ... saw Nicole and she said she had left you in bed and that she had told you to take the day off so I assumed that you two were back together and I was so confused about the night before when you just left after what happened I thought you just had enough. And then Chris showed up and I thought you were with Nicole and..." Luke pressed his lips up against Lorelai's, interrupting the babble, she put her arms around his waist tightly as she pulled him closer to her. He had one hand on the back of her neck and the other on the small of her back. She teased his bottom lip with her tongue before he opened his mouth and she moaned softly as their tongues touched and he moved his hands down to her butt and pushed her gently up against the cupboards. After about a minute they pulled back as they both tried to catch their breath.

She put her head on his chest and hugged him tightly as she smiled into him, he put his arms around her and kissed her hair as he grinned down at her, they both felt so right. They stood there for a few minutes before she pulled back and looked deep into his eyes, they were bluer than she had ever really noticed.

"I love you Luke" she said as she softly kissed him on the lips.

"You don't have to say anything, I just really wanted you to know" she said as she leaned against his chest again. He took her head in his hands and kissed her deeply on the lips, 'God that feels so good' they both thought simultaneously.

"Lorelai, I love you too... more than you know" he said huskily as he pulled back and leant his head against hers, she smiled widely and he grinned back at her as he watched her eyes light up.


	18. Encounters of the Luke Kind

_Hey everyone, sorry it took me longer to get this chapter up but it is a pretty long one! Anyway thanks all sooo much for all the reviews, it is the reviews that make me wanna write more so please keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. I'm not sure how long this fic is going to go for yet but I still have some more stuff I want to put in for it but don't worry I will tell everyone if I am going to end it. Enjoy this chapter !!_

_P.S. Love all you kind reviewers ;)_

**CHAPTER 18 – Encounters of the Luke Kind**

"Mom?" Rory said grumpily as she walked out of her room and into the kitchen.

"Sorry" Rory said becoming very embarrassed, she had walked in on Luke and her Mom kissing, her mom had her arms around his neck and was sitting on top of the work surface with her legs around him as his arms were wrapped around her back. They pulled apart when they heard Rory apologise, looking very embarrassed and guilty after not having heard her come in. Lorelai jumped off the work surface and smiled at Rory, "You okay hon? How come you're up so late?" she asked quickly.

"I heard noises – I'll go back to bed now" Rory said smiling slightly and looked over at Luke who was blushing a lot, even though she was embarrassed that she had walked in on them, she was also happy that they had finally made up, her mom had been moping for weeks.

"I should go" Luke said huskily as he tried to avoid Rory's gaze.

"Hey don't let me interrupt" Rory said as she started to enjoy seeing Luke squirm.

"Night mom, night Luke" Rory said as she kissed and hugged her mom.

"Night hon"

"Night Rory" Luke said. Rory turned around to go back to her room but turned back, walked over to Luke and gave him a small hug before going back to her room.

"Aw look at you all embarrassed" Lorelai said smiling wickedly.

"I'm not"

"You're red in the face – it's nothing to be embarrassed about" she said teasing him.

"It's hot in here"

"So take off all your clothes, I am getting so hot..." Lorelai sang before Luke interrupted her.

"What are you doing?" he asked looking at her with his 'What the hell?' look.

"Singing"

"Ah so that's what you call it"

"Hey!" she said pretending to be offended and hit him lightly on the arm.

"I'm gonna get going" he said as he walked to the back door and gave her a small kiss of the lips.

"See ya tomorrow"

"Bye" he said turning to leave, she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back as she kissed him deeply on the mouth before pulling back and smiling flirtatiously.

"Night" she whispered in his ear as she turned and walked inside. 

**The next day... **

"So how long did Luke stay last night?"

"What do you mean, he's upstairs" she said in a serious voice.

"He is?"

"Yeah, he is grooming himself, I gave him a manicure and pedicure last night"

"A simple question" Rory said rolling her eyes.

"He only stayed for a few minutes, I think you scared him off"

"So you two are back on?"

"Yup" Lorelai said smiling widely at Rory. She had that spark in her eye again, it had always been there but Luke had always managed to make it all the brighter, even it was just when she was annoying him or partaking in their usual diner banter.

"You look happy" Rory said as she slipped on her shoes and jacket.

"I am hon"

* * *

Luke opened the diner about half an hour later that morning. He hadn't gotten to bed until pretty late by the time he had got home and had decided to shave when he got up that morning, he hadn't bothered shaving lately, it just seemed unimportant after everything that had happened.

That morning every time the bell above the diner rang he would discreetly look up to see if it was Lorelai, she finally turned up later that morning around 9.30.

"Hey Luke"

"Hi Rory"

"Hi" Lorelai said smiling at him.

"Hi" he said and grinned back at her as Rory and Lorelai sat down at the table. They sat and just gazed at each other for a few seconds before Rory coughed and brought them both back to reality.

"Okay if you two wanna keep this a secret I would stop doing that" Rory whispered.

"What do you want?" Luke said as he turned and looked around to see if anyone had seen them, Lorelai looked down at her menu.

"Coffee?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Silly me. What else can I get you?"

"Pancakes and a side of bacon" Rory said.

"Pancakes and eggs – but make sure that you don't..."

"Put the eggs on the pancakes but on the side – yes I know" he said gruffly.

"Well I don't like my breakfast ogling me!"

"Obviously" he said rolling his eyes at Rory who laughed.

"Only you are allowed to ogle me in here" Lorelai said flirtaciously as she winked at him, purposely trying to embarrass him.

"Coming up" he said giving her a stern look, he turned around and walked back to the counter with a small grin on his face.

"Are you okay with this whole Luke thing?" Lorelai asked seriously.

"Yeah mom, he's really good for you"

"Yeah he is"

"Awww" Rory said smiling at her mom.

"Shutup"

"So tomorrow we have to go shopping for Yale stuff" Rory said.

"Aw I don't want you to go back there!" Lorelai said pouting.

"Well Luke will be here"

"Yes but Luke doesn't share my love for junk food or coffee, or renting bad movies purely to exploit their many faults and who am I going to get for clothes advice?"

"I'll be home at weekends and you can still call me you know"

"Can I email you pictures of all my clothes so that when I call you in my hour of need of what clothes to wear you will have visual aids to help"

"Yes mom but has anyone ever told you you're crazy before"

"Just almost everyday" Luke said as he set is plates in front of them both.

"Hey! Haven't I told you both that even the smartest people in the world have been mistaken for crazy before"

"Well then you must be really really smart" Luke said grinning.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment" she said loudly as he walked back to the counter.

"I gotta go, I promised Lane I would go and see her" Rory said about twenty minutes later once they had both finished their breakfast and their three mugs of coffee.

"Okay well tell Lane hello from me"

"I'm going out with Dean tonight too"

"Really?" Lorelai said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Zach, Lane, Me and Dean are going to the movies and dinner"

"So double date?"

"No, just friends? Zach and Lane are going, how would that be construed as a date?"

"So you and Dean could be construed as a date?

"Mom! Just friends"

"Really?" Lorelai said giving her daughter a questioning look.

"Yes"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Really?"

"Mom!"

"Okay bye! Call me if you're gonna me late"

"Okay, bye!" Rory said as she left the diner quickly not wanting to give her Mom anymore time to ask anymore questions about Dean. Lorelai left a few minutes later for the Inn but said a quick goodbye to Luke before she left.

* * *

"Hey Sook" Lorelai said as she entered the kitchen at the Inn.

"Hey – you look happy" Sookie said looking up from her mixing bowl.

"That's cos I am – Luke came over last night and we talked and made up, well we didn't really talk that much but we did use our lips" she said smiling suggestively.

"Yay!!" Sookie squealed as she jumped up forgetting the mixing bowl was in her hand as it smashed to the ground.

"Oops"

"Sorry - I should have asked you to put down the bowl before telling you"

"That's okay, this is so great about you and Luke, didn't I tell you that you and Luke would make up"

"Okay okay, so you told me so. I can't believe I never noticed how great Luke was before" Lorelai said excitedly as Sookie squealed and they both hugged and jumped up and down, Lorelai loved that Sookie shared her excitement about this.

"What the hell are you doing?" Michel said in a disgusted voice as he looked at Sookie with his usual frown on.

"Well Lorelai.."

"I asked what you were doing, I don't care why" Michel said as he handed Lorelai the phone before turning and walking out of the kitchen again.

"Hello"

"_Hello Lorelai"_

"Oh hi mom, how are you?"

"_I'm good. I am ringing because I would like you to host a DAR galla at your Inn"_

"A what?"

"_You know what a galla is Lorelai, food, music, entertainment"_

"Yes, but why the Dragonfly? Don't you usually rent out like palaces or those types of places"

"_Don't be silly Lorelai, of course we don't rent out palaces, I just thought it would be nice to have it at my daughter's Inn but if that's too much trouble Lorelai I'm sure that we can hold it somewhere else."_

"No Mom it's fine, I was just surprised that's all"

Lorelai and her mom talked for a while longer about the galla as Lorelai wrote down some details, after she hung up Sookie stood there with a surprised look plastered on her face to which Lorelai returned a questioning look.

"What?"

"I have just never seen you and your mom get on so well before"

"So we didn't fight, it's not like I'm gonna run down to the tattoo place and get her name stamped on my arm or anything"

"Oookay I was just saying"

"Plus I'm not about to let her ruin my good mood"

"You go girl"

**1.30pm **

Luke stood and wiped down the counter, the diner was pretty full this lunch time which wasn't anything new. He had been in a very pleasant mood all day which was noticed by a lot of people in town, there was actually a pool going about who Luke would lose his temper with first – Taylor and Kirk were tied.

"Black coffee and muffin please" a man across the counter asked Luke, waking him from his Lorelai daze.

A while later the bell rang on the diner rang as Lorelai entered as she quickly made her way to the counter.

"Coffee... now... please" she gasped as she collapsed on the chair.

"Hey to you to"

"Sorry, hey... now coffee"

"You okay?"

"Well apart from my Mom being on the phone every two minutes all morning and a problem with the linen delivery which caused so much chaos everything is fine"

"Ouch" he said sliding a coffee over.

"Can I get a burger as well, I'm soo starved"

"So nothing different than normal" he said rolling his eyes and walking back into the kitchen.

Lorelai watched him leave and smiled into her coffee mug as she drank her coffee and checked out his butt when he was walking away, 'It is pretty fine' she thought and laughed to herself when she remembered the conversation she had with Sookie once about Luke's butt... which he had become embarrassed about when he heard them.

"Hi" a voice said as she awoke from her daydream and turned around to look at the person talking to her.

"Hi" she said smiling.

"I'm Jenson" he said reaching out his hand. She smiled at him and shook his hand. 'He's a good looking guy' she thought, he was about 6'2, dark hair and eyes, tanned and she could see he was pretty muscular.

"Lorelai"

"Nice name"

"Thanks – it's always better than an ugly one like Agatha or something"

"That's my mom's name" he said with a frown.

"I was kidding, that's a great name, I actually might name my next kid that" she said slapping his arm with a nervous laugh.

"So was I" he said laughing.

"So you're married?"

"Nope"

"What age is your son... or daughter?"

"Nineteen"

"WOW!!" he said looking very surprised.

"I know, I know I don't look old enough to have a nineteen year old daughter" she said smiling.

Luke walked out of the kitchen to see Lorelai slapping the arm of the guy beside her at the counter as they both laughed, he suddenly felt jealous when he saw them. 'Who does he think he is' Luke thought.

"Here you go" he said setting the plate down in front of Lorelai as he shot the guy next to her a stern look.

"You done?" he asked Jenson when he saw his empty cup.

"Not quite yet" Jenson smirked.

"Lukee, more coffee please" she whined at him as she spotted the tension between him and Jenson, he looked jealous, 'Wow' Lorelai thought.

"So I just moved here from New York, I don't know the place very well, maybe you could give me a tour sometime" Jenson said as Luke was turned with his back to them at the coffee machine.

"It's pretty simple to get around really, and Taylor who owns Doose's and the ice cream place next door have maps if you need them but you shouldn't."

"Thanks. So Lorelai, can I maybe buy you dinner sometime?" he asked still grinning at her as Luke swung around and stared at them both as he waited for Lorelai's answer.

"I'm actually kinda with someone right now"

"Oh okay, well I'm not surprised someone's snapped you up" Jenson obviously flirting with her.

"Well thank you for that I will be sure to make sure they know that" she said raising an eyebrow as she turned and picked up her freshly poured coffee and shot Luke a look at the same time. He grinned as he walked back into the kitchen, glad that she had turned him down.

Jenson left soon after, but left his card with Lorelai just in case she changed her mind about dinner, which she knew she wouldn't but taking the card didn't hurt, she would throw it out later. She finished her coffee and walked behind the counter to find Luke before she went back to work, he was in the store room lifting some boxes.

"Oh Big Butch Danes, I don't know what I'd do without a big strong man like you" she said in a high pitched mocking voice as he set the boxes down and turned around to her doing his typical Luke eye roll.

"Hi"

"Where did you go? There are people in serious need of coffee out there!"

"Well I didn't want to interrupt you and brown eyed wonder boy" he said gruffly but in a joke tone.

"I've been meaning to tell you about him for a while – he's my bit on the side" she said walking towards him.

"Okay lets change the subject"

"Aw is Luke getting jealous" she said as she entwined her fingers in his and raised her eyebrow at him suggestively.

"No" he said gruffly. She grinned and knew that he was but decided to take advantage of this rare moment that they had alone and pressed her lips up against his, he quickly wrapped his arms around her tightly and deepened the kiss. Lorelai played with his lower lip with her tongue for a second or two which drove Luke crazy as he moved his hands further down her back so that he was cupping her ass in his hands, she gently ground her thighs into him as she tightened her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. They pulled back a minute later to catch their breath, Lorelai smiled widely at him and he grinned back at her and kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Wish I could stay here all day" Lorelai said as she put her head against his chest.

"Me too... well maybe not the store room but maybe my place" he grinned as she pulled back from his chest and raised her eyebrow and looked at him seductively.

"Dirty" Lorelai said as Luke rolled his eyes. The looked into each others eyes for a few seconds smiling.

"LUKE?" Caesar shouted from the kitchen. He didn't want to go into the store room, he had seen Lorelai go in so he didn't want to walk in on them again.

They jumped apart when they heard Caesar. "WHAT?" Luke shouted back.

"BRING IN SOME MORE BURGERS WHEN YOU'RE DONE"

Lorelai laughed at annoyed look on Luke's face, he looked back at her sternly for a few seconds before he broke into a grin.

"So you wanna do something tonight?" he asked.

"No I have a date"

"You do?"

"Yes with a very cute diner man" she said smiling at him as he squeezed her hand.

"You wanna go to a movie, or we could have a movie night or I dunno... what you wanna do?" she asked not really minding what they did.

"Let's have a movie night at my place"

"Oooh you're place, we've never done that before"

"I know" he said and grinned at her.

"Okay well I'll be around around seven, I'll bring some food and movies"

"I have food"

"Yeah we need some junk food duh"

"No you need some junk food"

"Aw I know you secretly want it too"

"Yes sure" he said sarcastically.

"I need to be getting back to the Inn anyway, Michel is going to whine all day about me being late"

"Okay see you tonight" he said as he kissed her softly on the lips and pulled back.

"Um okay well bye Casanova" she said as she smiled and winked at him before turning around and walking out of the store room. He stood there for a few seconds and watched her go, he had never felt this happy with anyone before, 'She is so amazing' he thought to himself as he opened some boxes and thought about the date he had with Lorelai that night....


	19. More Than Movies

_**Hey everyone, sorry it has taken me longer with this chapter. It was quite tricky and I wasn't sure exactly how to write it but tell me what you think of it! Did many people watch the premiere? I live in Ireland so it probably won't show over here for like 5 years!!! :( Anyway enjoy the chapter!!!**_

_**Next update by Sunday!!**_

**CHAPTER 19: More than just Movies...**

That evening Lorelai arrived at the diner at 7.25, Luke was already upstairs in his apartment so she just headed went straight up. She was wearing her tight blue jeans with a red t-shirt which had two hand prints on the front of it, she thought it was a good top to wear for the date. Luke opened the door when he heard her coming up the stairs, he signalled to his watch.

"Just half an hour late, better than I expected!" he said grinning.

"Hey, I'm twenty-seven minutes late so lets not exaggerate, plus everyone knows that a 7 o'clock date really means 7.15"

"So where's the other 13 minutes?"

"Well I had to walk over here in this shoes" she says pouting.

"You look good" he said as he grinned at her.

"Thanks, you do too" she said looking him up and down again, he was wearing his jeans with a black sweater that showed off his body a bit. She walked past him and he closed the door behind him, they were both really nervous about tonight, they hadn't really spent time alone in either her place or his yet and the few times they had been alone lately they had always been interrupted.

"So what movies did you bring?"

"Well since this is our first movie night as a couple" she said smiling at him as he grinned back at her and took her hand in his, "...I brought some romantic comedy's" which he groaned at.

"Serendipity and sleepless in Seattle"

"Great" he said sarcastically but really didn't mind that much, anytime he got to spend alone with Lorelai was great. Lorelai walked into the kitchen and got some bowls to put some food in as Luke watched her disapprovingly as he carried her plate of burger and fries and his salad over to the couch.

"You want some chips, I found this new flavour, Mexicano with chilli, they are really spicy"

"Um no thanks"

"I got some ice-cream for us as well"

"Is there any junk food left in Doose's?"

"Funny" she said walking over the couch with the food on a tray as he walked over and put the videos into the VCR. She caught herself doing the exact same thing that she had caught him doing before, she was checking out his butt again and he turned around quickly to see her and grinned.

"Would you stop looking at my butt!" he said grinning

"I wasn't – I was checking what make your jeans were!" she said indignantly but obviously lying.

"Okay sure" he said walking back to the couch.

"Hey mister, don't act so innocent, I know you check my ass out everytime I turn around"

"No I don't"

"You don't?" she asked pretending to be hurt.

"Okay well sometimes"

"You like?" she asked raising her eyebrow and smiling wickedly at him, she loved when she could embarrass him like this.

"Let's eat" he said as he took some salad, she just smiled at him and they started to watch 'Serendipity'. They finished their dinner soon after, as they both sat on the couch, Luke moved his arm around the back of the couch so that it was behind her and waited for her to snuggle into him before he wrapped it around her.

Sometime during the movie Lorelai had moved so that she was half sitting on Luke's lap, he had his arms around her waist and she leaned back against him. When the movie ended neither wanted to move, they both felt so comfortable, Lorelai loved feeling Luke's arms around her. Luke cheek was close to hers and he was captivated by her, her hair had an apple scent and she turned around too look at him every so often to watch his reaction to the film which was annoying but also very cute.

"Luke?" she asked as she turned herself around so she was looking into his eyes.

"Yeah" he said huskily as he tried to get used to having her face so close to his and trying to resist the temptation of kissing her.

"Why did it take us so long?"

"What you mean?"

"I mean why did it take you so long to ask me out?"

"Just, I dunno, I'm not really good at that type of thing, and you were either with someone and then there was Rachel and Nicole"

"There were still times you could have asked me when we were both with single"

"I know, but I always kinda thought you were out of my league" he said looking away from her.

"What, why?" she asked surprised.

"Just 'cos I was always there but you never really saw me, I was just your coffee guy or your handy man and you were... just you. I didn't think you would wanna be with someone like me" he said turning back to look into her eyes and getting embarrassed at that moment.

"Hey you are so wrong, I just didn't see it for so long Luke, I was scared to see what was right in front of me. You remember that time we were picking out colours for the diner and we were behind the counter, and we almost kissed... well I thought we did anyway but maybe we didn't. I ran scared then because I knew I had feelings for you and that scared the hell outta me" she said as she gasped for breath.

"So what happened? Why didn't you tell me?" he said, knowing exactly what had happened, Chris had shown up.

"The universe" she said smiling.

"Also known as Chris, Max and Rachel"

"God Luke, how could you think I was out of your league? I mean look at Rachel, she was this big worldwide photographer who was crazy about you" Lorelai said in disbelief not really believing what he had said, she had been thinking that she was the lucky one to have found him.

"Just, I can't explain" he said as he got up and started to clear the dishes, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he hated showing his vulnerable side. Another part of him was scared that she would start to realise how much better she is than him and come to her senses and run back to Chris or someone else.

Lorelai watched him walk over to the kitchen and just stared at him, she had seen some hurt in eyes when they had been talking which he had quickly decided to hide when he had got up to the dishes. 'How could I not see him?' she thought looking over at him realising that he was the man that she had been looking for, she had been blind to what was right in front of her and refused to listen to anyone to tried to show her. She needed to show him that this was it, he was the one that she wanted. She always thought that her and Christopher would end up together in the end and they were right for each other but she knew now that it wasn't right for them.... The man standing ten metres away was him... Mr Right, her heart whispered.

She walked over as he leaned over the sink and she put her arms around his waist, he turned around and looked at her waiting for her to say something.

"Luke, I'm sorry I didn't see what was right in front of me, love is blind 'n' all that. But I see you now and that's what matters isn't it?"

"I guess" he said but still with a degree of doubt in his voice.

"Luke..." she said but changed her mind and leaned in and kissed him deeply on the lips as she pulled back and smiled leaving him wanting more.

"I love you... more than coffee, now how can you doubt me now?" she said smiling as he put both hands on her cheeks and felt her warm breath against his lips as he pressed them against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, a few seconds later Lorelai slipped her tongue into Luke's mouth softly as he opened his mouth wide. They both felt the electricity pulsate through them as their tongues met for the first time and a soft moan escaped Lorelai's lips. Luke moved one hand to the bottom of her back and the other to the back of her neck, a minute later they both pulled back to catch their breath.

She smiled at him as she still kept her arms wrapped around his neck and he wrapped both arms around her tightly as he grinned back.

"You smell yummy"

"You taste better" he said as she raised her eyebrow at him, he could be so sweet sometimes. She leaned in and kissed him again as she ground her hips gently into him, he pulled her body tight to his as Lorelai felt her breasts and hips press into him. She slowly untucked his shirt from his jeans and raised it over his head, giggling a bit when he got it stuck over his head. They quickly began kissing again as she felt his chest, 'God I never knew he was this toned' she thought. A few seconds later Luke gently lifted Lorelai around the waist and walked over to the bed, still kissing the whole way.

He pulled back when they had got to the bed, "I love you Lorelai" he said, she kissed him softly as they smiled through the kiss at each other.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked concernly.

"I think you should be asking yourself if you're ready for me" Lorelai said smiling wickedly as she pulled him down to the bed.

'Wow' they both thought later as they lay on the backs breathless looking up at the ceiling. Neither of them really knowing what to say. Lorelai turned her head to the side and looked over at him and smiled as she gently ran her fingers over his chest, she had never imagined it being so.... 'wow', she thought not being able to come up with any other words to describe it.

Luke stared at the ceiling and then turned and gazed down at her a she played with the hair on his chest, she was so beautiful he thought as she lay there. He had always fantasized about this with Lorelai, having her in her arms, doing... what they just did but he never actually let himself believe it would happen. He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly as she lay her arm across his chest and snuggled up into him more.

**9 am the next morning...**

Lorelai woke up slowly, taking a few seconds to remember exactly where she was but when she looked over at Luke she smiled giddily. She sat up and looked over at the clock.

"CRAP!!" She shouted which woke Luke up.

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"It's 9.05!!!"

"Shit, how could I sleep this long? I never sleep this long!" he said as he jumped out of bed and lifted his jeans off the floor.

"I have to get to the Inn. I need to go home and get changed first though, dammit" she said as she rapidly got dressed as well. They both were ready within a few minutes.

"Bye!" she said as she gave him a quick peck on the lips and turned to go before he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply.

"Mmm" she groaned not wanting to leave.

"Last night was really... nice"

"Nice?" she asked questioningly raising an eyebrow.

"Yes"

"Just nice?"

"No not just nice, really nice" he said starting to tease.

"Nice is a word you use when someone asks you if you like the socks they just bought!" she said frowning. He kissed her deeply on the lips again and grinned when he pulled back.

"It was great Lorelai"

"Yeah it was okay" she said shrugging before she pressed her lips against his softly, both of them smiling through the kiss.

"Ok I really gotta go" she said slowly pulling away from his embrace knowing that if she didn't leave soon she wouldn't have the willpower to do it.

"Yeah I gotta get down to the diner. You better go out through the back, you know what the crazies in this town are like!"

"Good thinking Einstein" she said as they both walked down the stairs of the apartment. They walked through the kitchen into the store room and over to the door leading into the back alley.

"Bye... Love you" he said as she was walking out the door. She smiled when she heard him and turned a round with a wide smile on her face, surprised that he had said it just like that.

"Love you too" she said and gave him the last peck on the lips before she left.


	20. Dance With Me?

**Hey everyone, so sorry it took me so long I've just been really busy with school :/. Anyway this is a pretty long chapter so hope y'all like it. The next few chapters are going to be good :)**

**Read & Review please – thanks x**

**CHAPTER 20: Dance with me?**

"Hey Sook" Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen smiling widely.

"Hey Mrs Sunshine" Sookie said noticing Lorelai's excited smile.

"I did something slutty" Lorelai said mischievously.

"Oh my god, you and Luke, ahh" Sookie said jumping up and down grabbing Lorelai and making her jump too.

"How was it? You have to give me details" she squealed.

"It was great" Lorelai said still smiling.

"This is so exciting, you had sex and now you're together, it's wonderful, isn't it wonderful? Don't you know how wonderful this s?" Sookie said still squealing and jumping up and down excitedly.

"Yeah it's pretty great"

"Oh my god, you're sleeping with Luke"

"Okay Sookie, stop jumping, you're making me dizzy"

"It's so great, you two are so perfect for each other, I knew that someday you two would get together, and now we have our Inn and you have Luke, this is so great, I'm so happy for you both"

"Yeah me too"

"So where did you two ...ya know? I always thought it would be on top of the table like in Bob Durham"

"Actually we used the old fashioned thing, you might know it, it's called a bed"

"So... was he good? I mean between Max, Jason, Chris and Alex how does he rate?"

"Jeez... Sook, don't hold back" Lorelai said laughing.

"So..."

"Well Chris was always the best...."

"Oh" Sookie said disappointed.

"....Until last night, I'm not just saying that because I'm with Luke but he's so great Sookie... and I'm really happy" Lorelai said with the biggest smile on her face.

"Oh my god you two are so getting married"

"Let's just take it as it comes"

"... no pun intended" Lorelai said as Sookie raised her eyebrow.

"So are you going to come out of hiding then?"

"Not yet, I kinda like not many people knowing"

"Yes but it's killing me... it's like that disease in that movie Cabin Fever, I need people to know or I'm going to like blow up, Davie really isn't enough anymore!"

"Soon okay!"

"Great" Sookie squealed.

"Ok well I'm gonna get back to work now" Lorelai said as she took the cup of coffee that Sookie had just made her and walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

Luke stood at the counter in the diner, the breakfast rush was just over so he was having his mid morning lull as Kirk called it. He had been bombarded with questions as to why he had opened the diner late this morning, even Taylor had come in to have a go, Luke had just told them that his alarm clock had broken. He walked around that morning in a happy daze thinking about the night before, he had Lorelai now, not just as a friend from across the counter but he really _had _her.

He had surprised himself more than her when he had said goodbye to her the way that he had, he had never said 'Love you' to anyone just like that... even Rachel.

"Luke just the person I wanted to see" Taylor said bringing Luke back to reality.

"What is it?"

"Well as you know it is Stars Hollow annual dance marathon this weekend so I would like to put a small stand outside the front of the diner..."

"Okay" he said nonchalantly.

"... And I know that you're going to go on one of your rants but Luke this is a town event and it's about time that..." Taylor continued until he realised that Luke had just agreed.

"What?" Taylor asked with a surprised look on his face.

"That's fine Taylor" Luke said impatiently, he hated seeing Taylor pleased.

"Well Luke, I'm glad that you have finally started to become part of the town" Taylor said smiling at Luke which he hated.

"You've got 10 seconds to leave or I change my mind" Luke said impatiently as Taylor sighed and shook his head before turning and leaving the diner.

**7 pm **

"Hey Luke"

"Hey" Luke said as Rory came into the diner.

"So when are you going back to Yale soon?"

"Yeah two days"

"Oh"

"I have been shopping with Lane all day for school supplies"

"You get everything?"

"I think so"

"Coffee?" he asked.

"Thanks"

"So where's your mom?" he asked as he started to wipe down the counter, he still felt a little awkward with Rory whenever the subject of him and Lorelai came up.

"Only 45 seconds that's a record" she said laughing.

"Sorry" he said blushing a bit.

"No it's cute" she said smiling to which he looked at her sternly before he grinned at her.

"She'll be here soon, she had a lot on at the Inn today, and she was late in apparently so she had to work longer" Rory said raising her eyebrow at Luke who quickly turned around to the coffee machine.

"The longer you laugh and try and embarrass me the longer you'll be waiting for your coffee"

"Okay stopping" she said trying to supress her giggles as he poured her coffee.

* * *

Lorelai stood outside the diner and looked in at Luke and Rory who were talking, they were both smiling. He was kind of like another dad to Rory, Lorelai thought remembering all the things he had done for her and the balloons and everything in the diner for her sixteenth birthday.

"Oooh did you see the sign outside?" Lorelai said as she walked in and over to the counter where Rory was sitting.

"No what is it?" Rory asked.

"It's the dance marathon"

"Oh no" both Rory and Luke groaned at the same time knowing that she would most likely try and drag one of them to it.

"I have to win this year – it's my destiny"

"Sure mom, it has been your destiny for the last four years" Rory said going to sit down at the table behind her.

"So what time will I meet you there at?" she asked Luke.

"Where?"

"The Dance Marathon, it starts at 6 so about 5.45? Bring coffee first"

"I'm not going"

"Yes you are Luke"

"No I'm not Lorelai" he said defiantly.

"You're my boyfriend you have to, it's in your job description" she whispered across the counter with a frown on her face. She really wanted him to be her partner this year, not just because she wanted to win so badly but she hadn't got to dance with him since the wedding and she really liked dancing with him.

"No"

"Please" she said smiling sweetly at him and battering her eyelashes.

"No"

"Pretty please with a coffee bean on top"

"No"

"C'mon you know you want to"

"Actually I'm pretty sure I don't" he said rolling his eyes.

"But you can dance!"

"Doesn't mean I want to"

"Mom stop harassing him, I'm starved" Rory moaned behind her mom, Lorelai turned around and Luke shot a look of gratitude to Rory. He really wasn't the type of guy to take part in a dance contest and he didn't want to give Taylor the satisfaction of him taking part in a town event.

"We'll talk about this later" Lorelai said frowning as she turned and walked back to Rory. They talked until Luke brought over their order, then Lorelai focused her attention on trying to persuade him again, he ignored her pleas. A while later Rory and Lorelai were just finishing their dinner.

"You go get the movie and I'll meet you in Doose's hon" 

"Okay-don't be too hard on Luke" Rory said smiling before she left the diner where Lorelai would continue to annoy Luke with her incessant whining.

"So you wanna come over and watch a movie with me and Rory"

"Um sure"

"Woohoo" she shouted

"What?" he asked looking at her strangely.

"I knew I would get you to be my dance partner"

"I'm not your dance partner"

"You just agreed!"

"No I didn't"

"You just said 'um sure' so that is yes"

"I said yes about coming over"

"Ah but didn't you know, the code for 'Will you be my dance partner Luke?' is 'You wanna come over tonight'?"

"Okay then no" he said rolling his eyes. He knew that she would probably break him down eventually but he wasn't quite ready to give up yet.

"We'll talk later" she said raising her eyebrow.

"So will I come over?"

"Yeah, is half an hour okay?"

"Caesar and Lane will be here so that' should be good"

"Ok bye" Lorelai said lifting her bag off the chair beside her and walking out of the diner. She was looking through her bag as she walked out, not looking where she was going when she bumped into someone.

"Oh sorry" she said looking up at the familiar face.

"My fault" he said bending down to lift up her bag that she had dropped.

"No I was doing a Stevie Wonder there sorry" she said as she fixed the dance sign which she had nearly knocked over.

"So what's this dance marathon thing about?" Jenson asked her pointing at the sign.

"Well basically everyone has to dance for twenty-four hours and whoever is left standing wins the trophy, I have been sooo close the past few years but stupid Kirk won" she said frowning.

"Ah so you wanna win pretty bad" he said laughing.

"Uh yeah! You should see the size of the trophy, I really really want it" she said rubbing her hands together and giving him a wicked smile to which he just laughed in response.

"So guess I will see you on the dance floor then"

"Well maybe, I'm trying to get a dance partner, the guy I have asked REALLY doesn't wanna do it and I've probably already broken a few state laws trying to convince him so if you see me in the newspaper for harassment don't be surprised!" she said laughing. 'Okay Lorelai shutup and stop talking to this stranger, he doesn't care' she thought.

"Well if you want I could be your dance partner, this is so embarrassing but I used to take dance classes for extra credit in highschool"

"Nice, but... mm I'm not sure"

"Well if you're boyfriend doesn't mind, just friends, I mean I don't really know anyone here yet, well except a woman called Patty in the supermarket, she seems... a character" he said grinning.

"You better watch out, she eats bigger men than you for breakfast"

"Thanks for the warning"

"So the dance marathon this weekend, we on?" he asked grinning at her. She looked quickly into the diner at Luke who was carrying some plates with his back to her.

"Yeah, okay just so long as you know how important it is that I win this"

"I think I know"

"It's as important to me as it is for America to not vote Bush in the next elections"

"I'll second that"

"Okay well as long as you do"

"I've made a mental note"

"Okay well I gotta meet my daughter so I'll probably see you around?"

"Sure will, bye then" he said grinning before he continued on his jog.

* * *

About ten minutes later Rory met Lorelai in Doose's market.

"You were a while! I thought I would have to set up camp here while I was waiting, but then I thought 'I don't camp what am I saying'. So then I just waited here, starving to death"

"Not that you exaggerate at all, anyway I figured you would probably be in the diner hassling Luke all night"

"Nope, actually I have a dance partner"

"No mom, I am not doing it again this year"

"Did I say it was you, Miss now-everything's-about me"

"Luke said yes?" Rory said surprised that he had given in so easily.

"Let me finish... Jenson is going to be my dance partner"

"The new guy?"

"Yes"

"That asked you out?"

"Yes"

"Does Luke know?"

"We're going as friends, he knows I have a boyfriend and I will tell Luke later when I see him"

"Oookay" Rory said in a tone that Lorelai knew meant something more.

"What?"

"Nothing"

"That wasn't a normal 'okay' that was a 'I know something you don't okay'"

"I didn't know there were different meanings to okay"

"Spill"

"I just don't think that Luke will be as cool with this as you think he will"

"Why?"

"Because he'll be jealous"

"It's not like I didn't ask him like a million times already to go"

"That's true"

"Okay so he has no excuse" Lorelai said louder as Rory walked further up the aisle. 'He would be fine... wouldn't he?' she thought.

* * *

About an hour later Lorelai and Rory were sitting on the couch waiting for Luke to arrive, they had already finished the pizza and were starting on the junk food. Luke knocked on the door about ten minutes later, in his usual flannel uniform and a bag of food in one hand.

"Hey"

"Hi" she said giving him a small peck on the lips once he had closed the door.

"What did you bring us?"

"I didn't bring you anything, you said you were getting pizza" she grabbed the bag off him and looked inside and a wave of relief came over her face as she smiled at him.

"I knew you weren't that brave"

"So what are we watching?" he asked walking over to the sofa.

"Well to get in the mood for the dance marathon we got Grease and Dirty Dancing"

"Not this again" Luke groaned.

"Why have you seen them?" Lorelai asked, she knew he was talking about the dance marathon but decided to play dumb.

"I think he's talking about the dance marathon Mom"

"Don't worry I'm not going to ask you again" she said turning to look at Luke.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah why?"

"Because you and the word no don't exactly get on too well"

"I meant I won't ask you again because I have a dance partner"

"She got to you huh" he said grinning as he looked at Rory who shook her head.

"Nope"

"Who?"

"Jenson?"

"The new guy?"

"Yup"

"Oh" he simply said before sitting back in the couch and just stared at the TV. Rory shot Lorelai a 'I-told-you-so' look. Lorelai signalled for her to go to the bathroom so that she could talk to Luke alone.

"I'm just going to the bathroom" Rory said and walked upstairs.

"So... you wanna talk?"

"About what?"

"You know what"

"Why don't you tell me what you wanna talk about" he said getting defensive.

"You didn't wanna go to the dance, Jenson offered and he knows I have a boyfriend so it's not like it's a date"

"You honestly think he's just going to be you're friend"

"Yeah, and what does it matter, do you not trust me?"

"I do, but I don't trust anyone with you" he said looking into her eyes. She moved closer to him and took his hand in hers.

"Luke, we'll just be dancing okay? I love you, I didn't know it would bother you so much"

"I know. I didn't mean to be annoyed, I just..." he trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Nothing"

"Tell me"

"I just don't wanna risk losing you" he said as he rubbed her hand.

"You can be so sweet when you wanna be"

"Um... thanks" he said getting a bit embarrassed. She leaned over and kissed him deeply on the lips, he moved his arm around the back of her and pulled her closer to him. She ran her fingers through his hair gently and bit his lower lip softly, he moved both hands to her ass and moved her so that she was sitting on his lap.

"Okay I'll leave you two alone" Rory said as she turned and started to walk up the stairs.

"Mm I'm getting a bit of deja-vu here, okay lets start the movie" Lorelai said standing up and laughing a bit.

"You sure?"

"Of course"

"Actually I'm gonna get going" Luke said standing up.

"What? Why?" Both Rory and Lorelai asked.

"I just remembered I have to do something" he said walking to the door. Lorelai walked with him looking confused.

"You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I just think you and Rory should get some alone time before she leaves for Yale"

"She doesn't mind"

"I know but I'll see you tomorrow, just enjoy the night, and those don't really sound like my type of movies anyway" he said grinning as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Yeah see you tomorrow" she said smiling watching him leave.


	21. The Green Eyed Monster

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Hey - Didn't take me long to write this one! I'm just writing them as I go so I'm not sure where I'm actually going to, lol so any suggestions would be great :). Thanks for all the great feedback, that's why I got this chapter up so soon!! I really appreciate it and I love that you like my story :)_**

**_Enjoy! Review and tell me what you think or give me suggestions if you have any!_**

**_P.S - I added in a quote that Emily actually said in the 1st episode, just to put a bit of the real story in even if it's just a line ;-)_**

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**CHAPTER 21 – Dancing 'Til Dawn**

Lorelai had just driven back from New Haven after driving down with some of Rory's things, Rory didn't have enough room in her car for everything. She remembered the year before when she had convinced Luke to lend her his truck, 'God that thing was crappy to drive' she thought remembering her driving it in reverse down the street because it wouldn't go forward.

It was Friday night so she had to go to dinner tonight so at least she would see Rory there, she had a Yale newspaper meeting early the Saturday morning so it made sense that she would go back a day earlier and get settled in.

Lorelai pulled up to the diner, she was supposed to be at the Inn but she needed some coffee before she went to try and cheer herself up now that Rory had left again for another year.

"Coffee" Lorelai groaned as she sat down on the stool.

"Nice to see you too"

"I just left Rory to Yale so she's going to be away for another year, I have dinner with the grandparents tonight and tomorrow is the dance marathon so I'm going to be awake for 24 hours straight – sorry if I'm not dancing on tables right now"

"Mmm good point" he said as he poured her a cup of coffee and gave her a donut.

"Hey doll"

"O hey Babette"

"You look tired, you okay honey?"

"Yeah I was just up early packing up Rory's things for Yale"

"Aw sugar, I hate when she leaves. You need to get your sleep tonight for the dance marathon tomorrow"

"Yeah I know"

"That man you're going with, wow, rake me off a piece of that!"

"Babette!" Lorelai said in a high pitched tone, although her comment was not at all surprising to Lorelai, she had been saying that type of thing for years. Word had managed to get around the town about her going to the dance with Jenson, she knew that it wasn't a date but the rest of the town had other ideas. She looked over at Luke who was gritting his teeth at Babette's comments and just continued to wipe the counter, a little harder than he usually would.

Luke stood and wiped the counter furiously, he had been hearing the whole town comment about Lorelai and 'that guy' the last few days and it was beyond annoying. He also had to deal with the guy himself coming in for coffee every morning, once or twice he noticed Lorelai and him joking about. He wasn't sure whether he was annoyed more by the fact that she was going with him to the dance and he would be touching her for 24 hours or was it the fact that it could have been with her, looking at her and holding her for that time and he had been too stubborn to say yes.

**7.05pm – The Gilmore Residence**

"Hey mom"

"Hello Lorelai"

"Is Rory here yet?"

"Yes she's here, she unlike you seems to be in possession of a watch" Emily said frowning at her daughter before turning around and walking into the lounge as Lorelai followed.

"Hey mom" Rory said as she gave her mom a quick hug.

"Hi hon – you get all you're stuff unpacked?"

"Yeah almost"

"So where's dad?" Lorelai asked her mom, not seeing him anywhere.

"He'll be in in a minute"  
  
"Where is he?"

"Coming in from the pool"

"_Dad?_ Did he just watch Titanic and feel the urge for a little evening dip?"

"I need to tell you both something important"

"What is it Grandma?" Rory asked concerned as Lorelai just sat there with a frown on her face.

"Richard and I have separated" there were a few seconds of silence as Lorelai waited for her mom to continue.

"And..." Lorelai said.

"What do you mean and? Is that not enough? You need some kind of mob related offy to make it interesting"

"No, it's just that you were being so serious, so we kinda thought it was something we didn't already know"

"We only just separated"

"Well you went on a trip to Europe without dad, it's not exactly brain science to work out you two were having problems"

"Lorelai, I just wanted to inform you that you're father and I have separated, would you prefer I kept it from you like you keep almost everything from me"

"So dinner smells nice" Rory said, trying to change the subject.

"Mom, I do not keep things from you, I tell you when it's the right time"

"You mean when you were getting married and I find out from a complete stranger, that kind of right time?"

"God mom not this again"

"Or when you're dating your father's business partner for nearly six months behind our backs and when his father lets it's slip that you two are dating, that kind of right time?"

"Jeez" Lorelai said as she put her hands over her face.

"Why don't you want to tell your own mother about your life Lorelai?" Emily said trying to get Lorelai to tell her about Luke, they had been dating for quite a while, he was a big part of Rory's life as well, she grew so impatient at having to wait for Lorelai to give her even the tiniest snippet about her life.

"Because mom, you ever think that maybe I wanna enjoy what I have before I have the Emily band and her judgement parade marching down my street telling me what to do and keeping a record of all my mistakes" Lorelai said loudly as she stood up from the sofa.

"Well by the time we find out it's too late anyway, we were ready for you to marry Max, you didn't. Then you and Chris finally got it together and then that ends, surprise surprise and then Jason, although I'm not sorry about you and Jason. That boy just wants some arm candy."

"So what are you saying? That I should just not tell you because there's no point?"

"Would you lower you're voice Lorelai! I just wish you would finally settle down, you're a grown woman for goodness sake and stop running from man to man"

"Huh" Lorelai said as he anger turned to hurt, she stood up and walked out, Rory out after her.

"Mom!"

"Don't ask me to stay Rory, I need to get out of this house or I'm going to suffocate. You know I thought they had changed, I really did think that things were getting better but they are the same people that I ran away from at sixteen"

"Are you gonna be okay?" Rory asked, understanding that it wasn't fair on her mom to ask her to stay when she clearly didn't want to and was upset.

"I'll be fine once I'm out of Lucifer's reach" she said as she shot a look in toward the lounge.

"Okay well I'll call later" Rory said hugging her mom.

"Bye" Lorelai said simply, still mad but not wanting to take it out on Rory.

* * *

"Lukes" Luke said as he answered the telephone in a gruff voice, it had been a long day.

"_Luke?"_

"Rory? Everything okay?"

"_Not really, mom just had a huge blow out with grandma and left upset and she's on her way home and I have to go back to Yale tonight so can you call in and check she's okay?"_

"Yeah sure no problem"

"_Thanks Luke"_

"She'll be fine Rory don't worry, thanks for the heads up"

"_Okay have to get back to the table, bye Luke and thanks"_

"Bye"

Luke closed up the diner a bit earlier so that he could call over and see Lorelai, it was getting harder and harder to keep them a secret these days. He brought her over some coffee in a brown paper bag knowing that she would probably need it.

"Hey" he said when she answered the door.

"Hi"

"You didn't say you were coming over" she asked questioningly.

"Why is there a problem?"

"No, just you didn't say"

"You okay?" he asked concerned, he knew from the way that she was acting that she wasn't.

"I'm fine"

"You sure?"

"Did Rory call you?" she asked but she knew from the look on his face that she had.

"She was worried"

"Jeez... I'm 37 years old, I can sort out my own life"

"I know"

"I don't need help, I have got along perfectly fine so far"

"I know you have, but I wanna help"

"Why?" she asked pointedly.

"What?" he answered, confused as to whether this was a trick question.

"Why do you wanna help me Luke?"

"I think you know why Lorelai"

"Why?"

"Because I love you"

"Why? I mean I'm just gonna screw it up like I always do, you shouldn't even waste your time with me" Lorelai said as she said down on the couch with her hands over her face. Luke sat down beside her, he put an arm around her so that she was leaning against him. It had always made him uncomfortable when women cried but with her it was different, with Lorelai he just wanted to make everything okay. Like the time when she had broken down in the park about money problems with the Inn and he had fixed it by lending her the money.

She hugged him tightly. She knew he was there for her but would he always be? I mean she had screwed up every other relationship she had ever had, she had run away so many times, this would just be another for her mother to add to the list Lorelai thought.

"Talk to me" Luke whispered into her ear after a few minutes of silence.

"I...don't wanna lose you Luke"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here"

"But what about later? I have screwed up and run away so many times, how can you be so sure that I won't do it again and run from you?"

"Because I won't let you run"

"I don't wanna screw this up" she said looking up at him, he rarely saw her like this, she looked like a scared little girl.

"You won't"

"How do you know?"

"I just know" he replied simply. She smiled at him, he always said 'I just know' when she asked him things, and she loved that she trusted him enough to believe that.

"I'm not gonna leave you" Luke said as he kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug.

* * *

**5.15 am the next day...**

"I need coffee"

"You need you're head examined for taking part in that stupid contest" he answered as he slid a coffee cup over to her.

"Funny"

"I thought so" he said grinning at her.

"Will you visit me during our ten minute breaks?"

"I might"

"You better"

"Or what?"

"Or else no more sleepovers"

"I'll be there" he said grinning at her as she smiled wickedly at him over her coffee mug. She finished her third cup of coffee about fifteen minutes later, she said goodbye to Luke and made her way over to the gym to meet Jenson.

"Hey" Jenson said tapping her shoulder from behind. She was wearing a black dress, it accented her figure nicely and flared out a bit at the bottom.

"Hi" she said as she admired his fashion sense, he was wearing black trousers with a light blue shirt, no tie and collar undone. She found herself staring a bit longer than natural at Jenson, he looked like he just jumped out a of GQ magazine.

"Nice dress"

"You two... I mean nice shirt" she said trying to get the words out as she smiled back at him.

They went to the medical check which took a while to get through the queue. He was easy to talk to, there were a few awkward moments at the start but after she found out that he was a movie buff the conversation just flowed.

They made their way onto the dance floor a few minutes before it was due to start, he took one hand in his and placed the other hand on her side like Luke had done when they had first danced. It was a bit weird at the start for Lorelai having a man she barely knew dancing with her but she soon grew comfortable as they chatted normally.

"So how long have you been with you're boyfriend?" he asked her a few hours into the dancing.

"Well we've known each other for years, it kinda just happened recently"

"Nice"

"Yeah"

"So there was no real passion there to begin with?"

"What?" she asked looking at him strangely.

"Well I've just heard a lot that people who are friends first and become lovers don't have a lot of passion."

"Huh, well I think we're fine" she said quickly.

"Sorry if that was too personal"

"It's fine. So what about you? How come you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Well if I knew what drove them away I wouldn't be single" he said grinning, "I dunno, my last serious girlfriend was about a year ago, we were engaged but she wasn't exactly faithful"

"Aw that sucks"

"Yeah it does"

"Actually my friend was married up until a few months ago when he caught his wife having an affair" Lorelai said as she mentioned Luke.

"Ouch"

"Yeah"

"Subject change?" he suggested.

"That'd be good" she said laughing.

"Okay when's a door not a door" he said smiling.

"Dunno" she said smiling back, he told the lamest jokes but he was so cute the way he told them.

"When it's ajar" he said and laughed.

"That's worse than the last one" she said but laughed.

Luke stood at the doorway to the gym as he looked in at them dancing, he was jealous at the way they were talking, smiling and laughing all the time, they really did look like a couple. He couldn't wait until their break when he could maybe get some alone time with Lorelai, he hated seeing her dancing with someone else and was kicking himself for not just saying yes when she had asked him.

**19 hours in...**

"God I'm tired" Lorelai whined as she and Jenson gently swayed from side to side. She leaned her head on his shoulder as they danced trying to stay awake but she found herself falling asleep every few minutes. She was looking forward to her next break when she could see Luke, she had wanted to get some alone time with him in the last break and she could tell he had too but there was always someone around and when they finally did get some time alone Jenson had turned up to give her a sandwich.

"You must have men in this town falling at your feet" he said out of the blue as he smiled at her showing off his perfect teeth.

"Yes I do, but usually it's 'cos they tripped over something and land on me" she said laughing but not failing to notice how charming he could be.

"Well you're definitely the most gorgeous woman in town"

"Um thanks" she said as she started to blush a bit. She didn't notice that he had pulled her closer and whispered it in her ear, but Luke who had been watching had...


	22. Rears Its Ugly Head

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**CHAPTER 22 -... Rears It's Ugly Head**

Luke stood there for a few seconds as he felt both anger and jealousy build up inside him, she wasn't kissing him or anything but just the sight of another man touching her made him want to put his fist through a wall.

"Unauthorised dancefloor on the person" a drunken Taylor slurred through his speaker phone as Luke marched across the dancefloor towards Lorelai and Jenson. Lorelai had her head on Jenson's shoulder with her eyes closed and her back towards Luke so she hadn't seen him, Jenson had seen him and was looking at him strangely wondering what on earth he was doing.

"Can I help you?" Jenson asked as Luke stopped when he reached them, he looked angry about something but he wasn't sure what. Lorelai lifted her head off his shoulder sleepily as she wondered what he was talking about.

"Luke?" she said surprised.

The whole gym had turned around to stare at the three of them as they stood in the middle of the dance floor, even Taylor had stopped shouting.

"Can I cut in?" he said as he took his eyes off Lorelai and turned to Jenson.

"Um not really, or else we would lose the contest" Jenson answered for her.

"You told me you didn't wanna dance Luke" Lorelai said frowning at him.

"Yeah well I changed my mind didn't I"

"It's a bit late now" Jenson interrupted. 'Who did this guy think he was?' they both thought simultaneously as they glared at each other.

"Hey, mind your own business!" Luke said loudly not even looking at Jenson.

"We only have like five more hours Luke!" she said getting annoyed because Luke was mad at her.

"So another five hours of watching my girlfriend drape all over some guy as he touches her up?" Luke said getting madder. There were gasps heard throughout the gym as everyone started whispering.

"Girlfriend?" Jenson said in realization as he looked between Lorelai and Luke.

Lorelai stared back at him frowning, she hadn't wanted the town to find out this way and she was mad at Luke for saying all that stuff, I have not been draping myself! She thought angrily.

"I'm leaving" she said as she brushed past Luke and walked out of the hall as he just watched her.

"Lorelai" he shouted after her but she ignored him and kept walking.

Jenson watched her leave and watched as Luke stood there, making no attempt to go after her so he ran out of the gym after her and caught up within seconds.

"I'm sorry about that" she said as they walked swiftly out of the town hall and through the town square.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, c'mon sit down" he said as they walked up the gazebo steps and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Jenson said, not really knowing what else to say but wanting to end the silence.

"Not really, didn't you just see what happened in there" she said as she put in her head in her hands. Now the whole town knew about her and Luke, and that they were fighting and now she wouldn't hear the end of it she thought. It was mostly what Luke had said to her that had upset her though, how could he think that?

"It'll be fine, everything will be forgotten by next week"

"Oh you are so innocent to this towns ways my friend, they're like a herd of elephants"

"What?" he said confused.

"They never forget"

"Oh okay" he said smiling at her.

"I had no idea that the diner guy Luke was your boyfriend"

"Nobody did, we were kinda keeping it a secret from the town for a bit"

"It worked"

"Yeah guess so" she said not really feeling like talking.

"He shouldn't have spoken to you like that"

"Yeah maybe... but I guess I would have been mad if it was him with another women" she said quietly.

"Maybe, but you wouldn't have been a jerk about it" Jenson said a bit more harshly than he had meant to.

"Lorelai" Luke called out as he walked up the gazebo steps towards them.

"What?" she turned and looked at him with a sad frown on her face.

"We need to talk"

"Just leave it for tonight man" Jenson said as he stood up from the seat and stood between Luke and Lorelai. Luke clenched his fists, 'Who the hell died and made this guy king?' Luke thought getting madder every second he stood there blocking his way.

"This is none of your damn business so why don't you just go home"

"I'm fine here" he shot back.

"Jenson" Lorelai said calmly as she watched the two of them.

"I dunno how you managed to get Lorelai as _your_ girlfriend but if you wanna keep her you should really treat her better" Jenson said ignoring Lorelai.

"Okay you so need to get out of my face" Luke said through gritted teeth as he and Jenson squared up to each other, Jenson was a bit taller than Luke but by no significant amount.

"Hey I'm right here" Lorelai shouted.

"Lorelai, c'mon lets go somewhere and talk" Luke said looking past Jenson.

Jenson moved in front of Luke again, blocking his view of Lorelai. Luke couldn't take it anymore, he turned to go but instead he swung around fast and punched Jenson square in the jaw. Jenson stumbled back and hung his head, touching his lip and looking at the blood on his fingers, he ran at Luke and they went charging down the Gazebo steps backwards on to the pavement below.

By this time the town had emerged from the dance hall to see what was going outside.

"GO LUKE SWEETIE!!" Babette shouted with a raised fist as she ran to get closer so she could see more, Miss Patty was close behind her.

Luke and Jenson continued to wrestle on the grass in the middle of the town square until Andrew and Lorelai pulled them apart, ignoring the shouts and cheers from the background, mostly in favour of Luke.

They both separated and got up off the ground, they attempted to fix themselves up, clearly embarrassed that the whole town was standing watching them. Luke had a bloody nose and tried to wipe it on his flannel but it wasn't stopping the blood.

"Here" Lorelai said as she got some tissues from her bag and handed them to him.

"Thanks" he said as he tried to catch her gaze but she ignored his stare and looked away. There were a crowd of people around them, whispering and staring at the three of them. Lorelai turned and walked through the crowd, wanting to get home as soon as possible, hating the feeling she had inside as she turned her back on Luke and walked away.

Luke watched her leave, his face in despair at everything that had happened that night, how had he let himself get so out of control? 'I trust her... don't I?' he asked himself. He did the same as Lorelai and swiftly exited the scene, ignoring the shouts of town's people and disapproving looks.

* * *

Luke reached his apartment a few minutes later when the phone started to ring, he grabbed it quickly hoping that it was Lorelai calling although inside he knew that it wouldn't be, she wouldn't even be home yet. 

"Hello"

"_Hi"_

"Liz?"

"_Yeah it's me Luke, I need your help"_

"What've you done now?" Luke said impatiently.

"_TJ and I were in a car accident"_

"God Liz, are you okay? What happened?"

"_We'll be fine, but we broke an arm and a leg each and TJ's hurt his neck"_

"Dammit Liz"

"_I know it's bad, and we both can't really do anything for a few weeks until we're back on track but we really need some help with the renaissance fair or we won't be able to pay rent and..."_

"I'll be there"

"_Thanks Luke, you're the best big brother a girl could ask for"_

"I'll be in Maine by early tomorrow"

"_Okay, bye Luke and thanks"_

"Bye" Luke said hanging up the phone.

'Great!' Luke thought sarcastically as he hung up the phone, he didn't really want to go to Maine but he knew that this was important to his sister, and family is family after all he thought.

**7am – The Next Day**

Luke stood outside Lorelai's house, he had his truck packed and ready to go to Maine but he couldn't leave without saying something to Lorelai.

He walked up to the door and slipped the note he had written through the letter box and walked back to his truck, taking a last look back at the house before he drove off.

* * *

Lorelai had just awoken to the sound of a car outside and got up to see who was there, wondering if Rory had come back to visit, although it was highly unlikely since she had just left. She looked out the window and saw Luke walking back to his truck, why didn't he knock? She wondered. She walked down the stairs to the front door, she opened it in time to see Luke's truck turning the corner at the bottom of the street. 

She noticed the envelope on the floor, she looked at it curiously before picking it up to read it.

_I'm not sure how everything went so wrong last night, I didn't mean to get angry at you the way I did. I'm on my way to Maine to see Liz, I'm not sure when I'll be back, I'll call you._

_Luke_

Lorelai stared at the letter for a few minutes after reading it, he had left... Luke had left and she didn't know when she was going to see him again.

She picked up the phone and dialled the first number of the person who would understand.

"Rory"

"_Mom?"_

"Luke's left"

"_What?" Rory said surprised._

"We had a fight, well he got mad at the dance marathon because of Jenson and then I walked out and then Jenson followed and then Luke came and they got in a fight and Luke's gone" Lorelai rambled.

"_When? Where?"_

"Maine, he left me a note this morning"

"_When's he back?"_

"He says he doesn't know, god Rory why did this have to get messed up"

"_Mom, calm down, he'll be back and you two will work things out"_

"I dunno Rory, last time we fought and he left town we didn't talk for months"

"_You want me to come home?" _

"No hon, I'll be okay, I gotta get ready for work anyway"

"_You sure?"_

"I'm sure, stay at Yale, do that crazy learning thing you love so much"

"_Okay love you mom"_

"Love you too hon, bye"

"_Bye"_

**10am - The Dragonfly Inn**

"Where have you been?" Lorelai enquired as Sookie walked into the kitchen.

"What?" Sookie asked surprised and confused by Lorelai's question.

"You're always in for breakfast but you weren't today"

"Yeah, I told you I wouldn't be, I had to look after Davie until Jackson finished at the greenhouse"

"Oh yeah so you did" Lorelai said suddenly remembered and feeling a little stupid.

"So you okay? That was pretty crazy last night"

"No, Luke's left"

"WHAT?" Sookie screamed.

"Okay down an octave there Charlotte Church"

"Sorry, what happened?"

"Well he left me a note this morning saying he was going to Maine and didn't know when he would be back" Lorelai said frowning.

"But Luke never leaves town"

"I know!"

"Things must be bad"

"They are, I dunno what to do Sook, I should never have gone with Jenson to the dance"

"Mmm" Sookie said.

"What?"

"Nothing?"

"Okay Rory did the same thing when I told her I was going, what was the 'mmm' for?"

"It did look like you and Jenson were a couple last night the way you were dancing so close and smiling and laughing a lot, I wouldn't have blamed Luke for being jealous and getting upset"

"Was I that bad?" Lorelai said sitting down with a frown.

"You're his daisy Lorelai, he has been waiting to be with you for years and he's scared, and you acting like that right in front of him probably scared him"

"God Sookie, I'm so stupid" Lorelai said hitting herself on the head.

"It'll be fine honey, you'll sort it out when he gets back"

"I hope so"

"You will, you two are like Linda and Paul Mc Cartney"

"She died"

"Yes but before she died her and Paul were perfect together"

"Yeah... I gotta start work" Lorelai said nonchalantly as she walked out of the kitchen in a trance as she thought about Luke and what he was doing at that moment. He had been gone only a few hours but already she missed him, she couldn't talk to him, she couldn't see him and she didn't know when she would hear from him again. She took out his note again and read over again trying to find some hidden meaning. 'Is this the end of us' she wondered.


	23. Sleeping with the light on

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**CHAPTER 23 – Now you're Gone... I'm sleeping with the Light on**

_Nearly four weeks later..._

Luke was still in Maine, he had thought he would have been back in Stars Hollow by now, but no such luck with the state that Liz and TJ were in.

"If I never see another medieval costume in my life it'll be too soon" he grumbled when he saw a band of knights walk past him. Liz was helping out the best she could but TJ was driving him crazy with his constant moaning and refusal to do anything that may sustain his injury even longer, his main problem was his laziness.

He hadn't heard from Lorelai since he had left, although she didn't have his sisters number anyway so she couldn't have called him. He had lifted the phone to call her so many times, the three times that he had finally built up the courage to call all he had gotten was her machine which he _really _didn't want to talk to, so he had just hung up.

* * *

Lorelai had been keeping herself busy with the Inn, doing everything and anything she could to take her mind off Luke. She only went to the diner for a few minutes each morning to grab a quick coffee on her way to work, also she wanted to check if he was back, but each and everyday she was disappointed with the lack of flannel in the diner. It just wasn't the same anymore with Luke away, not even the coffee was the same!

Lorelai had gotten Liz's number off Rory who knew it in some weird related Jess way which she hadn't questioned her about. She had dialled her number so many times but had just hung up, 'Why hadn't he called her? He said he would call!' Lorelai kept thinking. Rory was off doing the college thing so she hadn't seen her a lot and Sookie... well she was Sookie. She had been coaxing her to call him since the day he had left, 'God damn my stubborn nature' she thought.

Jenson had set her a card and big bouquet of flowers after the fight to apologise, although she hadn't seen him much either with all the work she had been doing at the Inn, plus she had been doing her best to avoid him. She knew now she shouldn't have gone to the dance with him, Jenson shouldn't have acted like that to Luke and got him riled up, and Luke shouldn't have punched him – it was all their faults... not that it mattered now Luke was gone anyway. He had never been away for this long, he had left the diner and even Caesar and Lane weren't sure when he'd be back.

**A few nights later...**

Around 10pm Lorelai was sitting at home, flicking through the TV stations and she came across Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As she watched it, for the first time ever she felt sad watching one of her favourite movies, it was the same movie it had always been... but now it was different to her. She remembered her first date with Luke when he had brought her to the drive in movie to watch it after they had been out for dinner. He had been so sweet and had thought of everything and now he was gone...

* * *

Luke sat down to watch TV, he was tired after the long day he had had, it was more tiring and annoying to hear people talking in old English language than it was when Kirk came into the diner with his daily dilemma about what he wanted to eat or just his continual weird questions. He flicked through the channels trying to find some baseball, but not paying much interest to what was on the screen. He stopped at a channel when he recognised the film on...it was Lorelai's favourite.

They both sat and watched the movie, thinking of one another, what they were doing, how much they missed each other and how much they hated to admit how much they missed each other and wanted to talk to one another. He saw the Umpa loompa part which Lorelai had talked about for twenty minutes after the film had ended and even made up a song about, he smiled when he thought of it.

She remembered the song she had made up on their first date that she had sung for ten minutes straight just to see how annoyed she could get him. Luke quickly picked up the phone and dialled her number, wanting to do it before he lost his nerve. She had done the same, she knew Liz's number by heart from the number of times she had tried to call him in the past month and failed.

"Dammit" they both said out loud when they heard the busy tone on the end of the line.

**The next night**

"Ahh I can't find my shoes" Lorelai shouted from her room.

"Which one's?" Rory shouted back as she walked upstairs.

"The black ones"

"Oh the black ones, now I know which ones you're talking about" Rory said sarcastically as she dodged the flying shoes that were passing her head.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have three pairs of the same shoes?"

"Where?"

"The one's on that heap, the ones you just almost killed me with that landed out I the hall and the ones that you are just about to throw" Rory said matter-of-factly. Lorelai looked at them and then shrugged as she went back to the shoe search.

**6.40pm – The Gilmore Residence**

"Hey mom"

"Hello Lorelai, hello Rory – You will be joining your father for drinks in the pool house before dinner"

"So dad got joint custody, he must be psyched, did you know that you can divorce your parents?"

"That's ludicrous"

"No really mom, Nathan from One Tree Hill did it – and here's me thinking he was stupid" Lorelai said smiling as Rory laughed. Emily ignored her and informed the maid to lead them to the pool house.

"How weird is this?" Lorelai whispered to Rory as they walked.

"I know, I haven't been in the pool house since... I can't even remember the last time I was in the pool house"

"I can – I pushed you I" Lorelai said as she rubbed her hands evily.

"There's the motherly love that orphans crave".

Richard had his 'man slave' as Lorelai called him serve their drinks as Richard served them some Hungarian cheese that he had recently discovered on a recent business trip. The conversation was basically the same as it always was, Richard asking about Yale and talking about how much he loved his years there and asking Lorelai about business at the Inn. The only difference now was there wasn't Emily's disapproving voice in the background.

At 7pm the maid informed them that diner was ready in the main house.

"Okay if I had known we were going to be walking through these gravel stones I would have worn different shoes" Lorelai said as she lifted her foot to examine the heel of her shoe.

"Well don't worry you'll probably have another couple of pairs at home anyway" Rory said sarcastically.

"You're not the only one who stays prepared" Lorelai shot back.

**Dessert...**

"So Lorelai when are you going to be bringing Luke to dinner? Emily asked finally after an entire meal of not mentioning it. Lorelai had finally told her before all the stuff that had happened with Luke that they were together, even though Emily had already known.

"I'm not sure" Lorelai answered trying to be as vague as possible.

"Well how about next week?"

"No, I don't think that will work"

"Why?"

"Because it won't"

"Well how about the week after?"

"So Rory, you have a newspaper meeting tomorrow?" Lorelai said in a desperate attempt to change the subject but she knew it wouldn't work anyway. She just didn't want to have to tell her mother what had happened between them and get the famous Emily Gilmore 'You screwed up again' look.

"Yeah, it's good that I don't have to do that stupid paper hat thing this year too"

"Have you and the diner man broken up?" Emily asked, ignoring the new conversation.

"No Mom he's just out of town at the minute" Lorelai said sighing, she knew her mother would go on about it, 'She's like a dog with a bone' Lorelai thought.

"Where?"

"Maine?"

"Why is he there? Richard and I went there once, it was quite nice"

""I dunno why he's there mom okay?" Lorelai said as her annoyance grew with every prying question her mother asked.

"Why not? Shouldn't you know why the man you are seeing is away Lorelai?" Emily said pointedly.

"Yes mom, I should but I don't" she said in a calmer voice, not in the mood to argue with her mother.

"Well when will he be back?"

"Mom can we drop this?"

"Yum, this is good pie, don't you think this pie is so great mom? I mean it's so..." Rory said loudly with a weak attempt to get their attention.

"I suppose you don't know that either" Emily interrupted.

"Thanks mom for dinner, I'll see you next week" Lorelai said as she stood up from the table, set her napkin on her plate and walked out of the dining room.

"Lorelai" Emily called out as she stood from her chair and followed her daughter out, leaving Rory alone at the dining table.

"Mom, please I have to go" Lorelai said getting upset.

"What happened with Luke?"

"... I don't know Mom okay"

"Well are you going to work it out? I mean you're..."

"38, yes mom I know my age, I'm not quite senile yet, I'm going to sort it out with him"

"When?"

"Now!"

"You're going to call?"

"No I'm going to see him"

"But he's in Maine?" Emily said confused.

"Well mom, there's a highway to Maine ya know?"

"I'm not stupid Lorelai" Emily said indignantly.

"I'm going to drive to Maine"

"But it's 9 o' clock at night?"

"Highway doesn't close after 9"

"Yes but it's too late to go..."

"Bye mom" Lorelai shouted on her way to the car. She knew she had to sort it out with Luke and he didn't seem to be in a rush to get home so she would have to go there. He had shown up at her door in the middle of the night, or window to be specific so she could do the same to him.

"Thank you Rory for being a map freak" Lorelai said out loud to herself as she took the road map out of the glove compartment, the same map Rory had said she would need someday and the same one Lorelai had argued her that she never would.

**Hours later...**

"Jeez, why couldn't he had gone somewhere closer" Lorelai said yawning. She pressed the button to turn off her Metallica CD, she had been listening to it since she left Hartford and it was starting to slowly melt her brain as she had listened to it for the 8th time I a row. She started to listen to the radio, staying away from the 'evil' country and western stations.

_Looking at the pages of my life  
Faded memories of me and you  
Mistakes you know I've made a few  
I took some shots and fell from time to time  
Baby, you were there to pull me through  
We've been around the block a time or two  
I'm gonna lay it on the line  
Ask me how we've come this far  
The answer's written in my eyes  
__  
Every time I look at you, baby, I see something new  
That takes me higher than before and makes me want you more  
I don't wanna sleep tonight, dreamin's just a waste of time  
When I look at what my life's been comin' to  
I'm all about lovin' you  
  
I've lived, I've loved, I've lost, I've paid some dues, baby  
We've been to hell and back again  
Through it all you're always my best friend  
For all the words I didn't say and all the things I didn't do  
Tonight I'm gonna find a way  
__  
Every time I look at you, baby, I see something new  
That takes me higher than before and makes me want you more  
I don't wanna sleep tonight, dreamin's just a waste of time  
When I look at what my life's been comin' to  
I'm all about lovin' you_

'Ok the guy's like older than me and still wears leather pants but...'

_  
You can take this world away  
You're everything I am  
Just read the lines upon my face  
I'm all about lovin' you  
  
Every time I look at you, baby, I see something new  
That takes me higher than before and makes me want you more  
I don't wanna sleep tonight, dreamin's just a waste of time  
When I look at what my life's been comin' to  
I'm all about lovin' you  
  
All about lovin' you_

'... he knows what he's talking about' Lorelai thought as she related to the song, her and Luke had been best friends for years, he was what her life had been coming to, and if she ever got to Maine she knew she had to tell him everything, she cared too much to let him go.

**Maine**

Lorelai had finally reached it, she was only ten minutes away from hopefully seeing Luke again, she was excited, but also as nervous as hell.

Lorelai stopped her truck outside the apartment block, it had taken her longer than she had thought to find it but she was finally there. She fixed her hair in the mirror and put some lip gloss on quickly as she looked in the mirror, hopefully to take the attention off how tired she looked.

Luke was lying on the couch sleeping, he woke up when he thought he had heard something but when there was silence he rolled over and started to go back to sleep. He heard it again. 'Who the hell knocking in the middle of the night?' Luke thought angrily as he stood up from the couch and pulled on his t-shirt and a walked to the front door. He opened the door about 30 seconds later, trying to fiddle with the locks in the dark, he couldn't see where the peep hole was to look on and see who it was.

"Lorelai?" Luke said confused and surprised when he saw the figure shivering outside.


	24. Resting on Something Real

**_Hey, Sorry this took a while to get out and it's short! I'm going to be finishing the fic within the next 5 chapters I think, but not exactly sure so we'll see! I have just started a real-life Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson fic so hopefully you all will read it. Thanks everyone for the great reviews, you are all so amazing!!_**

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**CHAPTER 24 – Resting on Something Real**

"Why didn't you call" she asked quietly as she looked up at him in the doorway.

"What?...Why?" Luke said as he struggled to find the words before he said "Come in out of the cold" and slowly lead her into the house and over to the couch where she sat down, neither of them saying a word as he put the blanket around her shoulders to try and warm her up a bit.

"I called" he said quietly.

"You did?"

"Yeah I did"

"When? Why didn't you leave a message?"

"I just... didn't know what to say and I didn't want to say it to a machine"

"Why didn't you come back Luke? I haven't heard or seen from you in over a month, you could have called my cell"

"I know..." he said looking down at the floor.

"So what now?" she asked looking at him but his face wasn't giving much away.

"Why did you come here?" he asked, he wanted to know how she really felt, had the past month apart changed anything about how she had claimed she had felt about him before?

"I wanted to see you, I mean obviously you were in no rush to get back to Stars Hollow, or the diner... or me. Can I just sleep here tonight, I'll leave first thing in the morning don't worry" Lorelai said rubbing her eyes as the overwhelming tiredness overcame her, she didn't think Luke was so happy to see her, maybe this wasn't such a great idea she thought.

"I wanted to come back, but with Liz and TJ I had to stay and it just kept getting longer and longer. I was in a rush to get back, not to the diner but to you... but the way I left things I didn't know how it would be" Luke said as he sat down beside her and looked into her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes that just seemed to shine through him.

"What do you mean Liz and TJ?"

"Jeez, I didn't tell you, they got into a car accident and broke a leg and arm each, that's why I came here, 'cos they needed my help"

"Dammit Luke, you should really take a class in 'how to leave a message'... I thought you had left 'cos of what happened between us"

"What? I wouldn't just leave like that Lorelai, how could you think that?

"Well c'mon the note wasn't exactly 'ye olde thing of much knowledge"

"I know"

"And I guess I just kinda got used to people leaving"

"I mean with all the times Chris has turned up and left again, or when I screwed things up with Max... I guess I just wouldn't relate me and my relationships with any great expectations" she said honestly as they sat there. He moved his hand and put it over hers, he knew he would and could never leave her. After all the time and effort he spent trying to make it work with Nicole he knew he couldn't do it, because Lorelai was 'it' for him, whether she felt the same or not. He had spent years trying to convince himself he wasn't in love with her and he could live on his own but he couldn't, not after what had happened with them, he didn't want to be without her.

"I love you Lorelai, and I'm not gonna leave you... ever" Luke said before she snuggled into his shoulder and smiled into his chest as she inhaled his scent that she had missed so much.

"Luke can I tell you something?"

"Would it stop you if I said no?"

"Good point, but thanks for ruining the moment... that's usually my job"

"Sorry, go ahead" he said grinning as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Doesn't matter now" she said smugly.

"Oh come on" Luke said rolling his eyes.

"Nope, you're now just going to have to sit and wonder" she said and made a cruel laugh before he pushed her down on her back against the sofa and started tickling her, she always managed to bring out the playful side in him.

"Luke no!" she shouted before he covered her mouth and motioned to TJ and Liz's bedroom. Luke leaned down and lay on top of her pinning her arms behind her head.

"Maybe we should go another month without seeing each other if you're gonna be like this" Lorelai said seductively as Luke leaned down and kissed her deeply on the mouth, freeing her arms which she quickly wrapped around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. She slipped her tongue softly into his mouth which he gladly welcomed by opening his mouth wider, she bit him softly on the bottom lip which drove him crazy. He rolled her gently sideways so that he could undo the back of her dress as she started to undo the buttons on his flannel, pulling it off him and throwing it across the room.

"AHH, DAMN" Luke said as he tried to roll over and hit the floor with a thud, the couch wasn't big enough for the two of them. Lorelai looked over at him and started laughing hysterically as he lay on the floor, "Deja-vu" she said through giggles as he just rolled his eyes and stood up. He sat down on the couch beside her and just put his arm around her, She hugged him tightly and closed her eyes, not wanting to ever have to go a month or even a day without seeing him again. He gently brushed her hair away from her face as he kissed her forehead gently.

**The next morning...**

"You don't waste any time"

Luke and Lorelai groaned as they opened their eyes slowly and looked up and TJ who was standing looking down at them with a cheeky grin on his face.

"What do you want?" Luke grumbled as he stood up from the couch.

"If you had told us you were having company we would have got you an air bed"

"Go away TJ"

"Hey, I was being nice, Lorelai wasn't I being nice?"

"Thanks for the offer" Lorelai said smiling as she noticed the look of irritation on Luke's face.

"Who wants breakfast?" Luke said walking into the kitchen

"Ooh me" Lorelai said putting her hand up as if she was back in high school again.

"I always told you Luke, but you never listened?"

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well I dunno why you would marry Nicole when Lorelai was right there, I mean if I wasn't married..."

"SHUTUP TJ!!" Luke shouted.

"Hey, that was a compliment, Lorelai wasn't that a compliment?"

"Um..."

"I mean I didn't call you ugly"

"And I'm thankful for that"

"What's all the shouting about?" Liz said as she emerged from the bedroom.

"Just your husband and his stupid..." Luke muttered.

"Hi Liz" Lorelai said walking into the kitchen.

"Lorelai!" Liz said loudly giving a surprised Lorelai a big hug.

"I didn't know you were visiting, Luke why didn't you tell me Lorelai was visiting? When did you get here?"

"Well it wasn't really planned, very early this morning" Lorelai said as she looked over at Luke and gave him a small smile to which he returned a small grin.

"Aw this is great, he's been walking about like a bear with a sore paw since he got here, I think that's the first time I've seen him smile yet"

"Liz" Luke said gruffly as he turned around to the cooker, obviously embarrassed.

"Well I try my best" Lorelai said as she smiled happily. She loved that his sister was so warm towards her, being an only child she was not used to having brothers or sisters and with anyone else she had dated she hadn't really stuck with them long enough to be friends with their siblings, this was so different. For one of the first times in her life she felt content in a relationship where she knew that Luke would always be there for her, she felt safe, something she had been waiting to feel with someone her whole life.

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_**Tell me what you think....**_


	25. Some Goodbye's Aren't Forever

**_Hey, sorry it has taken me longer to update. I have been working on my Scott/Lauren fic as well... but I'm trying not to neglect this one! I have set up a website so you can read my Lauren/Scott one __- I can't put the link here tho :( so check out my profile for the address!_**

**_Don't forget to review! Every single one increases my willingness to do another chapter lol_**

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**CHAPTER 25 – Some Goodbye's Aren't Forever**

"Why can't you come home tomorrow Lukey?" Lorelai whined that night as they lay in bed, they were staying in a hotel for the night before Lorelai was due to leave the next day.

"Lorelai, we've been through this, I just need to help Liz out for a little bit longer"

"I know, but I miss you... and you're yummy coffee"

"I miss you too" he said kissing her softly on the lips before pulling back, she smiled at him and he grinned back at her.

"So how many days?"

"Not sure"

"Give me an idea"

"Not long"

"Oh good now I just have to set my watch to 'not long'" she said sarcastically.

"You don't have a watch"

"Well I'll buy one, and then I'll have one won't I" she said in a matter-of-fact tone as she gave him a quick peck on the lips and put her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"So what time do you leave tomorrow?" Luke asked. The last day with her had been great, even when she had trailed him around every booth at the Renaissance fair. It had been strange walking around holding hands and kissing in public, especially for him, but he was a lot more comfortable here when he knew there wasn't a whole town watching them.

"Early, I told Sookie I would be back at the Inn early because I have that gala for my mother in a few days"

"You sound excited about that" he said sarcastically.

"If excited is similar to that of the feeling of someone being taken to the gas chamber after their last meal then yeah I am. Is it that obvious?"

"Not really, but after eight years I think I know you"

"I can't believe it has been eight years, that's the longest foreplay in the world" Lorelai laughed.

"You have such a way with words" he said sarcastically.

"It's not just words I have a way with my friend" Lorelai said as she turned rolled over so that she was straddling him and kissed him deeply on the lips, he quickly put his arms around her waist and pulled her down on him so she was lying on top of him.

**6am – The next morning...**

Lorelai got out of bed slowly the next morning, slipping out from Luke's arms, trying not to wake him as she went to take a shower. She hated that she had to leave and go back to work today, but she was so happy things were okay with Luke... well better than okay actually. She had never felt like this before, like she wanted to see him when he wasn't around or just wanted to touch him, even walking through the fair and holding hands or him with his arm around her was so comfortable.

She walked back into the bedroom around fifteen minutes later seeing Luke was awake and sitting on the side of the bed.

"Morning sleepy head"

"Morning" he said as he rubbing his eyes.

"God I'm so tired"

"Yeah me too" Luke said yawning.

"A sex marathon really takes it out of you doesn't it?" Lorelai said smiling seductively as she purposely tried to embarrass him.

"Lorelai" Luke said sternly as he blushed slightly.

"You're so funny when you get embarrassed"

"I'm not embarrassed"

"Oh, so you always look as red as a traffic light then?"

"I am not as red as a traffic light" he said gruffly.

"Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed today Mr Grumpy"

**8am**

"You got everything?"

"My whole like five things, yes Luke I have, if I had actually planned this trip you would have been carrying a few suitcases to the car so count yourself lucky"

"Then I'm thankful it was last minute then"

"I'm just gonna run in and say goodbye to Liz"

"You don't have to y'know"

"I want to" Lorelai said wrapping her arm around Luke's waist and walking up the steps to Liz and TJ's apartment.

"Hey, you all set?" Liz asked when the two of them walked in.

"Yeah I'm good to go, thanks for letting me stay, I'm sure you didn't expect some strange women to turn up at your door in the middle of the night... but then really who would?"

"Don't be silly, you are welcome anytime, you and Luke should come down sometime when we are better, me and TJ can show you the whole Renaissance fair"

"No thanks" Luke said gruffly in a low voice, he never wanted to see another Renaissance fair again once he left Maine.

"That would be nice Liz" Lorelai said as she nudged Luke in the side.

"Bye" Lorelai said as she gave Liz a hug before leaving, she was just about to give TJ a hug too when Luke glared at him from behind her so he gave her a kiss of the hand instead.

"Bye" Lorelai said walking out with Luke behind her.

"You're such a gentleman walking me out to my car" Lorelai said in a high pitched voice.

"I won't miss that" Luke said rolling his eyes.

"You love this voice"

"No I don't"

"Oh Luke, yeah Luke... mm Luke Baby that's the way I like it" Lorelai said in a high pitched voice.

"Would you stop that?" Luke said looking around them to see if anyone was about.

"I'm just kidding Lukey baby" she said giving him a peck on the lips.

"You'll call me?" she asked.

"Yes"

"On my cell on the way home, otherwise I'm gonna be soooooo bored"

"I promise" he whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. He hated that she had to leave, they were just getting started finally after all the hiccups they had had so far since they had gotten together, but now he was one-hundred percent sure that they could make it... go the distance together.

"I love you Luke" Lorelai whispered into his ear as her lips grazed his cheek and kissed him softly on the lips.

"God I love you too Lorelai" he said huskily as he pulled her tighter against him, not wanting to let her go yet.

"Bye" Lorelai said a minute later as she kissed him deeply on the lips and pulled back, removing herself from his embrace and got into her jeep, rolling the window down and blowing him a kiss before she started the engine. He just grinned back at her as he watched her drive away, once she was out of sight he dug his hands into his pockets and started to walk back to the apartment, 'I miss her already, god what am I in for?' he thought to himself.

**

* * *

**

**Hours later back in Stars Hollow...**

"Hey hon" Lorelai called happily as she walked into the kitchen of the Inn.

"Hey stranger"

"So how was the trip? The one you didn't inform me of until you were on your way" Sookie asked raising her eyebrow.

"Sorry Sook, I should have arranged it with you first"

"I was kidding, so how was it? Judging by the way you skipped in here it went pretty well"

"Yeah it really did, it was a misunderstanding, we're good again, I miss him already, how cheesy is that!" Lorelai said smiling, she hadn't been able to stop smiling the whole way home.

"You two are soo cute, ahh I can't wait until you get married, our kids could be best friends like... Dawson and Joey without all the weird sexual tension stuff!" Sookie squealed.

"O god, I've woken the screech monster"

"Someone is on the phone for you, you do remember that we are trying to run a business here don't you, we do not all go off gallivanting, some of us actually work so we do not have to...." Michel started in his usual French obnoxious accent as he walked into the kitchen holding out the phone.

"Okay Michel, I get the picture" Lorelai said snatching the phone off him.

"Hello" she answered happily.

"_Lorelai!"_

"Mom"

"_I have been trying to call you all weekend. How come you weren't answering your phone?" _

"I wasn't at home mom" Lorelai said rolling her eyes.

"_I called your cell phone as well" _

"Sorry must have missed your call" Lorelai lied, the truth was that when her mother had called, her and Luke had been...well ... busy. Although if she had been doing nothing she probably wouldn't have answered anyway.

"_Well you could have called and told me you had gotten there okay? What's a mother to think?"_

"Hey mom, I got to Maine okay, there was some traffic but other than that the trip was fine"

"_Lorelai"_

"Okay mom sorry, I should have called"

"_You should have but I guess that would be too responsible... but anyway I just want to check everything with the gala, the string quartet is all booked?"_

"Yeah mom, everything booked, the string quartet, the caterer, the marching band..."

"_I didn't want a marching band Lorelai"_

"Just checking mom, don't worry I have it all under control"

"_I don't appreciate your jokes Lorelai."_

"So what else is new?" Lorelai said sarcastically.

"_And you're coming?"  
_

"I'm organising it so obviously yes" Lorelai said rolling her eyes.

"_No Lorelai, I mean you have to be a guest, and you need a date too"_

"_What?_ You never told me I had to go, and where am I supposed to get a date"

"_Well I didn't know I had to state the obvious Lorelai, and don't bring Rory like you did last time I told you to bring a date. Why don't you ask Luke"  
_

"He's still in Maine mom"

"_Why? Did you two not sort things out? Is there noone else that can come with you?"_

"We did, his sister and brother-in-law had an accident and he has to look after them for a bit longer"

"_But you're coming?"_

"I'll be there mom, but I'm not sure about a date"

"_Well try Lorelai, I have enough to worry about with your father and keeping our separation a secret, I don't need anything else to worry about"_

"Fine mom, see you on Thursday"

"_Goodbye" _

"God that women could suck the happiness out of Santa Clause" Lorelai said after she hung up and sat down on the chair, taking the cup of coffee out of Sookie's hand.

"Are you going to ask Luke?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah but he probably won't be able to come anyway, hey if he can't can I borrow Jackson" Lorelai joked.

"Sure hon"

"Thanks, anyway I gotta start work so I'll be in later" Lorelai said walking out of the kitchen.

**11pm that night...**

"_Hello"_

"Hey" Luke said.

"_I'm just home from the Inn, had so much paperwork and stuff to catch up with"_

"That sucks, the diner is going to be a nightmare when I get back too"

"_Speaking of which, do you have any idea when you will be back? I have to go to this DAR dance gala type thing and apparently I have to bring a date..."_

"I hate those things"

"_I know, but you love me"  
_

"I dunno when I'll be back, it's on Thursday right?"

"_Yup"_

"Well that's only 4 days so probably not"

"_Oh.. okay, I didn't think so_" Lorelai said yawning.

"You sound tired"_  
"Well between driving home, working all day and the sex marathon yeah I'm pretty beat"_

"I'll let you go then, sleep well"

"_You too, night"_

"Night, love you"

"_Love you too"_ Lorelai said smiling down the phone before she hung up.


	26. Emily's Lunchen

_Hey guys, I am sooo sorry I have not updated in so long! I have really been neglecting y'all which I sincerely apologise for but I will definitley try and update a lot more. I have just been so busy and then with my Lauren./Scott fic it kinda just took over... no excuse. Anyway here you go, hope you all enjoy this and tell me what you think :)_

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**26 - Emily's lunchen**

"Don't worry hon, everything is ready for Thursday" Sookie told Lorelai for the tenth time that Tuesday evening after Lorelai had run around checking that everything was ready for Thursday.

"I just need it to be right" Lorelai said as she sat down on the stool in the kitchen.

"It will be don't worry"

"I hope so"

"You're annoyed Luke can't come"

"Yeah, I mean I know he has a good reason, but I just miss him and I don't want to take anyone else… I'm not going to… so my mother will just have to deal"

"You can borrow Jackson"

"Thanks hon, I keep it in mind" Lorelai said smiling over her coffee cup. Sookie's coffee was good, but it wasn't as great as Luke's. They had been talking several times a day since she had got back but it wasn't the same as being able to see him whenever she wanted.

**THURSDAY **

"Okay people, we're running a tight ship here, I don't want to see anything sloppy especially you, I saw the way you handled that salmon yesterday" Sookie shouted through the kitchen as she pointed at one of the frightened looking kitchen helpers.

"Okay Sookie, I think you need to go to the Chemist and get a prescription for more chill pills"

"I was a loud there wasn't I"

"Yeah well I mightn't have heard you if I was in Hartford but otherwise yeah you weren't exactly quiet… So anyway we're all set?"

"Yeah we're good to go"

"Lorelai, you're mother is here" Michel said to Lorelai who rolled her eyes. 'Here it goes' she thought as she walked out of the kitchen, preparing her story of why she didn't bring a date.

"Hello Lorelai"

"Hi mom" Lorelai said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"The DAR girls will be here in half an hour, is everything set up?"

"Yes mom, everything is perfect, why don't you go into the dining room and sit down, leave it all to me" Lorelai said, she honestly just wanted her mother to leave her alone.

"So where is your date?"

"Umm, well he… he was here but then he got called into the hospital so he had to go" Lorelai lied.

"You're dating a doctor?"

"No, a mental patient, he was out on day release, he had to go back in but he gets out once a month and we write each other everyday, you'll get to meet him in another 30 days"

"Is that funny?"

"Umm…"

"No that's not funny, what you think that going out with some crazed lunatic is something to joke about?"

"Mmm…Apparently not"

"I told you to bring someone, I gave you notice, why didn't you bring someone?"

"Because mom, Luke is out of town still"

"Well why didn't he come back?"

"He's busy mom, he doesn't have to drop everything just because I ask him to, I don't have a date so can we just drop this" Lorelai said as she pinched the tip of her nose, already feeling a headache coming on.

"Is there no one else you could have brought? My friend Linda from the DAR…"

"No mom, I don't want to bring anyone else, Luke is the only man I would want to bring so can we just drop this" Lorelai interjected.

"Fine, well I'm going to look around and check that everything is fine" Emily replied as Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Okay, have fun" Lorelai said sarcastically as she turned and walked from the dining room into the hall, looking down at her feet as she walked, she could already feel the migraine coming.

"Hey stranger" a familiar voice said, waking her from her daze she looked up.

"Luke! What? How?" she said loudly with a wide smile on her face before she hugged him tightly.

"Well I knew how important this was to you so I came back, I've put my life on hold for long enough, so I'm back… for good" he whispered into her ear as he smelt the apple and cinnamon scent in her hair that he had been longing to smell since the second she had left Maine.

"God Luke, I can't believe you did that for me, I missed you" Lorelai said as she pulled back from the hug and smiled from ear to ear as he smiled back at her, a smile he reserved only for her.

"I missed you too" Luke said before pressing his lips softly against hers, holding her face in this hands.

"Damn I so wanna take you upstairs right now"

"I don't think your mother would like that very much"

"Oooh yet another advantage, let's go" she said grabbing his shirt.

"Mrs Gilmore, hello"

"Yeah good joke Luke, although you could just go by the princess of darkness or.."

"Hello Luke" Emily said as she rolled her eyes at her daughters comment.

"Oh mom hi there"

"Lorelai there is a stain in one of the table cloths in the dining room"

"Oh that isn't a stain, I put that there on purpose…" Lorelai started to say but decided that right now might not be the best time to annoy her "okay mom I'll sort it" Lorelai said as she walked towards the kitchen leaving Luke standing there looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Luke" Lorelai whispered, trying to get Luke to follow her, not trusting him in her mothers clutches for even a minute.

"Lorelai I am not going to attack the man, would you just go and sort the tablecloth"

"Fine, be back in a minute" she said, shooting an apologetic look at Luke before leaving.

"So Luke, I didn't think you were going to be back for this"

"I almost wasn't but I left Maine early"

"That is where you were when you left Lorelai well over a month ago, without contacting her while you were there or with any knowledge of when you would return"

"Yeah" Luke said looking down to avoid Emily's glare.

"And they say chivalry is dead" Emily said sarcastically, testing Luke.

"It was a misunderstanding, I care very much about Lorelai and Rory, I'd do anything for them"

"So guys what did you talk about while I was gone?" Lorelai said coming up beside them, though she knew it wasn't something good when she saw the expressions on their faces.

"Guests are arriving, I should go and welcome them all, so should you Lorelai"

"I'll be right out" Lorelai said as she waited for her mom to leave so she could talk to Luke.

"Okay what did she say?"

"Nothing"

"C'mon Luke, I know she said something, it wouldn't be my mother if she didn't"

"It was nothing, just asked about the diner, now c'mon we should get out there" Luke said putting a smile on his face and taking her hand in his as he walked toward the front door. He didn't want Lorelai to get annoyed and start an argument with her mother, this was an important night for her and the business and he really wanted it to go well for her.

"Okay are you ready?" Lorelai said before they walked out.

"Let's go" he grinned as he squeezed her hand gently and they walked out to greet the guests.

**Later that night…**

The string quartet was playing, guests had just finished dinner and had started to get up to dance. Emily had been watching her daughters interaction with Luke all day, she was fascinated by how close they seemed, the looks and smiles they shared, the way they would whisper things to each other and laugh… she had never seen her daughter like that with a man. Was this diner guy really making her daughter happy?

Lorelai watched Luke as he walked over to her with two glasses of champagne.

"Thought you didn't like this stuff" Lorelai laughed as she took the champagne glass out of his hand and used the other to slide her hand into his, entwining their fingers.

"Hey I told you before I was a compulsive liar"

"You wanna dance?" Lorelai said motioning to the few couples up slow dancing, they hadn't danced since his sister's wedding.

"I don't really dance"

"You did okay at Liz's wedding"

"Yeah but that was then when I was trying to woo you, now I have you" Luke said as he kissed her quickly with a grin.

"Aww please Luke, you've been away for like 10 years, I think you owe me a dance… I'll do something I know you like later" Lorelai said battering her eyelashes and smiling flirtatiously at him.

"I wasn't away that long"

"Well it was the longest we've been apart since we met so it was a long time, pretty please Lukey… you know I'll pay you back later" Lorelai said smiling when he blushed slightly and looked around to check nobody was listening.

"Fine, but just one dance"

"Yay" she said jumping a bit, they set their glasses down and she started pulling him towards the other dancing couples. He put one hand on her waist and pulled her close and she put her other hand in his and placed it on his chest.

"This is nice" she whispered and he smiled down at her, she leaned her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head lightly, smiling to himself as he remembered the last time they had danced. He had been so nervous about it, how she felt about him, full of hopeful expectations as he held her, the woman who had been the object of his affection for so long that he couldn't remember a time when he didn't feel this way for her… and now he had her, he really _had_ her.

Emily was talking with a few of the DAR girls when she saw Luke and her daughter getting up to dance, she pretended to be listening to the conversation but continued to let her gaze drift towards the dance floor. She saw the two of them standing close as they moved slowly across the dance floor, whispering and laughing with each other as they danced, sharing intimate looks and a few small kisses. She didn't know whether to be happy, I mean she wanted her daughter to be happy… but with a man who works in a diner? That wasn't who she ever pictured her daughter with, she was of Gilmore blood yet she was with this lower societal man who worked in a diner… 'no this was not right' Emily thought to herself.

* * *

Almost everyone had left apart from people working to help clear up, Luke was waiting for Lorelai to be finished so was lending a hand around the Inn. Emily walked in through the front door, going to say goodbye to Lorelai before she left.

"Mom I thought you'd gone?" Lorelai said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, that would be rude Lorelai"

"Okay mom, night, see you tomorrow night"

"Why did you tell me Luke wasn't coming when he was?" Emily asked seriously.

"I thought he couldn't come, turned out he could" Lorelai said simply, shrugging her shoulders.

"I was talking to Christopher a few days ago…" Emily started before Lorelai interrupted.

"Mom please do not start with your Christopher talk, we are not together and never will be"

"You and Christopher belong together Lorelai, him and Sherry have split up, I know he still loves you"

"Mom, Christopher and I are over, we weren't meant to be and I don't love him so don't start trying to persuade me that we're supposed to be together, in case you hadn't noticed I am with Luke"

"You think you love this diner man Lorelai? You are from so much more than him, you are a Gilmore, Christopher…"

"Mom I swear you better stop right there, Luke and I are supposed to be together, I know we are, I don't love Christopher as anything more than Rory's father, I love Luke, simple as that mom okay?" Lorelai said loudly. She couldn't believe her mom was actually going to start trying to talk her into getting back together with Christopher, couldn't she see how happy she was with Luke? Lorelai didn't know when the last time was that she felt _that_ happy with someone.

Luke who was in the dining room heard the commotion from the hall between Lorelai and Emily, he didn't know whether to check if Lorelai was okay or just stay out of it. He knew that Lorelai's mother had a lot higher expectations of who Lorelai would end up with, so he wasn't very surprised that she didn't approve of his relationship with Lorelai but it still managed to hurt him that she didn't think he was good enough. Although since they had been dating there had always been a part of him that was scared, scared that he wasn't good enough, scared that she would realise that sooner or later and he would lose her… maybe even as his best friend as well.


	27. Who wants to go to dinner?

_Hey, told you it wouldn't take me as long to update this chapter… enjoy :)! Thanks everyone who updated in the last chapter, you guys are the best and I love y'all.. you all make me want to write more when I read the greatreviews so thanks again!_

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**27 –Who wants to go todinner?**

Luke and Lorelai had just finished for the night at the Dragonfly, neither having spoken about the argument with Emily only an hour before. Usually Luke would be the first one that Lorelai would go to when she needed to vent about her mother but this was different… the fight had been about Emily not thinking Luke was good enough for her and thinking Chris was, she knew if she told him he would be hurt by it… so she just hadn't mentioned it.

They drove back to the diner in almost silence as they listened to the radio, both caught up in their own thoughts. Lorelai had been going to Sookie's for breakfast a lot since Luke had been away and had caught a ride with Sookie to work most mornings, but she had let Sookie leave early to spend some time with Davey and caught a ride home with Luke.

Luke got out of the drivers side and walked around the car to open the passenger side for Lorelai as he always did, she smiled at him as she tried to get her mind off the fight with her mother. It made her so mad inside that her mom couldn't see who Luke really was, this man who would do anything in the world for her and Rory and so much more than Chris had ever done. How could she even suggest giving that up for Christopher?

Luke had felt awkward since Emily had left, Lorelai had been very quiet which he knew was never a very good sign. He walked her up to the doorstep and turned to him smiling flirtatiously, "You wanna come in for a cup of coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee" he said grinning as he pretended to not know what she was talking about but she saw through it and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him into the house. She pressed her lips up against his, all she wanted was to feel his body on hers and forget all the ugliness regarding her mother. It felt like forever since she had felt him with her…

Luke responded by pulling her body up against his and shutting the door with his back of his foot as his hands moved along her body feverishly, she was doing the same, neither of them being able to get enough of each other. He felt her tongue gently running along his bottom lip, silently begging for him to allow her to enter his mouth, he opened his mouth widely pulling her towards her as he deepened the kiss. They were slowly making their way towards the staircase, although apparently not fast enough for Luke who wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, she wrapped her arms around his waist, not letting his lips leave hers as he climbed the stairs.

**The next morning…**

Lorelai woke up around six, she looked over at Luke who was sleeping soundly, she sat for a minute staring at him, the way he slept and how gorgeous he looked.

"Would you stop staring at me" he grumbled as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down to him, she laughed and kissed him softly on the lips wrapping an arm around him.

"Don't you have to get up to open the diner?"

"Caesar is opening"

"Oh so you thought you would get lucky last night?" Lorelai said raising an eyebrow.

"Lorelai"

"Well you got lucky four times… but who's counting"

"You're crazy" he laughed but kissed her softly on the forehead.

"I gotta go take a shower, I have a meeting at the Inn this morning" she said kissing him on the lips, along his jaw line and twice moving down his chest before jumping off the bed and walking into the bathroom.

The phone rang about five minutes later, Luke wasn't sure whether to answer it at first but Lorelai called out for him to answer so he did.

"Hello"

"_Hello"_

"_Who is this?"_

"It's… Luke" Luke said as he sighed when he recognised the familiar voice over the phone.

"_Is Lorelai there?"_

"She can't come to the phone right now Mrs Gilmore"

"_Why?"_

"What?" Luke asked confused.

"_Why can my daughter not come to the phone right now?"_ Emily asked, speaking slowly as if he was unable to understand English.

"She's in the shower"

"_Fine. Get her to call me as soon as she gets out" _

"I will" he said but she had already hung up.

Lorelai came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, all dressed and ready to go. It was strange being the first one out of bed and seeing him still lying there… although it wasn't a bad sight.

"Your mom called"

"Ouch"

"Yeah, she wants you to call her back"

"Mmm, maybe later… today's got off to too good a start to call her yet" Lorelai said as she crossed the room to give him a quick kiss goodbye. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her down on top of him, he ran his hand lightly up and down her back as he started to move his lips across her jaw line and down her neck. She moaned softly when she felt his lips on her neck, he always knew just the spot to drive her crazy. Lorelai moved her face down to meet Luke's lips before she pulled back from him and smiled.

"I really gotta go now"

"You want me to make you a quick cup of coffee first?"

"That'd be great hon" Lorelai said as she gave him a quick kiss before getting off him and pulling him up with her. They went downstairs and talked as Luke made her some coffee poured into a travel mug before she gave him a quick kiss goodbye and left for the Inn.

**Friday Lunch time…**

Lorelai had been rushed off her feet all day and hadn't got a chance to call her mother back… not that she was in a rush to anyway after last night. She walked into the kitchen to see Sookie who was having a fight with Jackson over some weird fruit… everything was back to normal. She watched them fight for a minute before Michel came in holding out the phone out.

"Doesn't this remind you of the Independence Inn all over again" Lorelai laughed pointing at Sookie and Jackson.

"Yes it's quite amazing, take the phone"

"It's like deja-vu" Lorelai said ignoring Michel.

"It's the diner man" Michel said sighing knowing she would take the phone immediately.

"Oh thanks" Lorelai said as she grabbed the phone off him.

"Hey there" she whispered into the phone

"_Lorelai why have you not returned my call?"_ a shrill voice asked on the other end of the phone which was definitely not Luke's voice.

"Hello mother" Lorelai said as she glared at Michel who smiled evily and turned on his heel and walked back out to the hallway.

"_I wanted to invite Luke for dinner tonight" _

"You what?

"_I said I want to invite Luke for dinner tonight"_

"Come again?" Lorelai said frowning, had the world flipped on its axis or something? She thought.

"_Lorelai I will not say it again, is he going to come or not"  
_

"What makes you think I would be crazy enough to invite Luke to dinner, after everything you said about me and how he isn't good enough… I'm not going to put him through a night of interrogation mom"

"_Lorelai you are with this man, it seems serious is it not?"_

"Yes it is mom" Lorelai said rolling her eyes.

"_Well then bring him to dinner, I will be perfectly polite to the man, we will have to meet sometime if this is as serious as you tell me"_

"Fine mom I will ask him to come to dinner"

"_See you at seven"_

"Bye" Lorelai said in a frustrated tone as she hung up the phone. What was she going to say to Luke, why in hell would he even want to go?

* * *

The bell above the diner bell rang, Luke glanced up from the counter to see Lorelai coming in. He grinned up at her as she walked towards him, although she definitely did not look as happy to see him. He grabbed a cup and started pouring it when she sat down at the counter and slammed her head against the counter. 

"Hey whats wrong?" Luke asked as he rushed around the counter to stop her from hitting her head against the counter again.

"My mother"

"What happened?" Luke asked putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it gently.

"She wants you to come to dinner tonight"

"She does?" Luke asked frowning.

"Yeah, I swear the woman is on crack or something, she actually calls me up and asks me to invite you to dinner tonight because apparently that's the only way to show her I am serious about you"

"Well I'll go then"

"You don't have to Luke, its kinda like throwing yourself into a cage of lions and having a cotton bud to protect you"

"Well you'll be there to protect me won't you" he whispered into her ear.

"Luke you don't have to do this"

"I'll do it because I love you" he whispered into her ear. He knew it was probably going to be a painful experience for him and her as well, but this was serious for them both and he knew that her parents came as part of the Lorelai package.

"You are the most amazing man" Lorelai said as she turned around to him and pressed her lips against his in a deep kiss for a few seconds before she pulled back and smiled. He grinned as his face turned red, luckily there were only a few people in the diner but even still they were all staring at the two of them.

"Look at you all blushing… you getting a little hot?" Lorelai said, whispering the last part.

"Lorelai" he said with a stern face before he turned to walk back around the counter, not letting her see the small grin playing on his face… which soon turned serious when he turned back to face her again, the thought about the dinner that night coming back into his head.

"Anyway gotta run hon, I have to pick up stuff for the Inn in New Haven tonight so I told Rory I'd pick her up and then she'll spend the weekend here and I'll drop her back on Sunday, but I can pick you up if you want"

"I'll get Caesar to close but how about I drive up and meet you there?"

"Okay but you can't go in before I get there, sit out in your truck and wait… safety in numbers n all that jazz"

"I'll wait" he grinned.

"Okay I'll see you at seven then" Lorelai said as she leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing her bag and walking out of the diner.

**The Gilmore Residence – 6.45pm**

"Luke isn't here yet" Lorelai said when they didn't see his truck in the driveway.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon, let's just go in" Rory said.

"Yeah maybe we can slip something in her drink, got any arsenic?"

"That's the attitude" Rory said rolling her eyes. They both got out of the car and walked to the front door, Lorelai walking slowly hoping that Luke's truck would pull up on the way, she was surprised he wasn't here yet because he was never late… not even for boring town meetings.

"Hello Rory, you look lovely, hi Lorelai where's Luke?"

"He'll be here soon"

"Well come in, your father is joining us for dinner tonight"

"You're letting dad in the house, has charity week come around again?" Lorelai quipped.

"Lorelai" Emily warned.

"Nice start" Rory whispered.

**7.35pm…**

"Where the hell is Luke?" Lorelai whispered to Rory who shrugged.

"You wanna call him?"

"I tried the diner but Caesar said he'd left ages ago, he's probably driving at a mile an hour, y'know what he's like"

"He'll be here soon then"

"Hopefully" Lorelai said looking at the clock again.

**8.10pm…**

"Lorelai, will we start dinner and leave some for Luke?"

"Yeah mom no point in it going cold… again" she said in an annoyed tone. She couldn't believe he wasn't here yet, this wasn't like him.

About twenty minutes later Lorelai's cell phone started ringing.

"Lorelai what have I told you about…"

"It could be Luke mom" Lorelai said in an annoyed tone getting up from the dinner table.

"Hello"

"_Hi, is this Lorelai Gilmore?"_

"Yes that's me"

"_I'm doctor Cohen from the Hartford city hospital, do you know a Mr Luke Danes?"_

"Yeah, why? Has something happened?"

"_I'm sorry to inform you that he has been involved in a car accident…"_

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_Wow sorry for the cliff hanger guys… make sure to review and tell me what you think. Next chapter of **'Back to Reality'** will be up by Sunday as well :)!_


	28. Not Letting Go

_Okay I know you all probably hate me for not updating sooner... I'm soo sorry about that, I really am! Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you thinkplease:). _

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**28 – Not Letting Go**

"Oh god, oh god, is he okay? Please tell me he's okay" Lorelai said growing hysterical, Emily and Rory got up from the table and walked out with concerned looks on their faces.

"_Is it possible for you to come down here? I can give you more details when you get here"_

"I'll be right there" Lorelai said hanging up.

"Mom what's wrong?" Rory asked concerned as to what was going on.

"Luke, oh god Luke, he's been… he's in… there was a car accident, I have to get to the hospital" Lorelai said bursting into tears.

"Oh my god" both Emily and Rory said as they covered their mouths in disbelief.

"I'll drive you to the hospital mom" Rory said grabbing her keys.

"No Rory I shall drive" Emily said as she asked the maid to grab her coat and tell Richard where they were going.

They reached the hospital about twenty minutes later, Emily had been tailgating and speeding practically the whole journey… Lorelai was surprised but thankful for this. She couldn't even wait for the car to stop before she opened the car door and ran into the hospital.

"Luke Danes, can you please tell me where Luke Danes is" Lorelai said hysterically when she was still a few metre's from the reception desk.

"Please wait a few minutes miss"

"I need to see him now, I know patience is a virtue but it ain't one of mine so..."

"I need to find out where he is please wait and the doctor will be right down" the woman said in a harsh tone, Lorelai sat down in the chair with her head in her hands as she waited what seemed like forever for the doctor to come down.

"Miss Gilmore?"

"Yes that's me, where's Luke? Is he okay?" Lorelai said getting upset again.

"Mr Danes had a lucky escape, luckily he was brought straight to hospital, he has broken a few bones and has some cuts and bruises but overall he should be fine"

"Should be?"

"He'll be fine" the doctor said in a comforting tone.

"Can I see him?"

"He's asleep right now but you can see him for a few minutes if you would like"

"Yes I want to see him" Lorelai said quickly, she turned around to Rory and her mother who had just heard the news and were obviously in a state of relief that he was okay. She knew how worried Rory had been, Luke was like a father figure to her all her life and she could tell when she was trying to stay calm for her benefit... this was definitely one of those times as she saw the tears forming in her daughters eyes.

Lorelai walked into the room and almost broke-down when she saw Luke lying in the bed, tubes coming out of him with visible cuts and bruises showing. He was asleep so she walked over and sat by the bed as she watched him sleep, taking her hand in his and squeezing it softly not wanting to risk hurting him. She had always seen Luke as this strong man and seeing him lying in this hospital bed in obvious pain she almost couldn't take it, the doctor had said he had a lucky escape… it had been lucky for the both of them, she didn't know what she would have done if she had have lost him.

"Oh god Luke, I can't believe I almost lost you" Lorelai said as she laid her head down beside him and started crying softly into the sheet.

"Mom?" Rory said when she came into the room and saw her mom with her head buried into the sheet, Luke still asleep. She went over and gave her mother a hug when she lifted her head, she hated seeing Luke like this and her mom so obviously devastated as well.

**A few hours later…**

Lorelai was still in sitting with Luke, Rory and Emily had gone to get some coffee for the three of them. The doctor had said that Luke would probably be awake soon and Lorelai hadn't wanted him to wake up and her not be there so she sat in the chair beside his bed, still holding his hand in hers as she sat and watched him sleep.

"Lorelai" Luke said quietly, he didn't have enough energy to talk at normal level as he saw Lorelai with her head beside his and her hand grasping his.

"Luke, oh my god you're awake"

"Are you okay?" Luke said when he saw her red eyes and tear streaked face.

"You're the one in the hospital bed Luke"

"Lorelai"

"I just can't believe I could have lost you Luke" Lorelai said as tears started coming back into her eyes as she looked at him.

"I'm fine" he said just above a whisper as he tried to smile at her.

"Look at yourself, you're far from fine. I hate that you're hurting right now, god I don't know what I would do if I had have lost you" Lorelai said as she started crying again, moving her hand so that it was softly stroking the side of his face as she looked at him, her eyes welling up with tears.

"You'll never lose me Lorelai, I promise you that" he said using up all his energy just to squeeze her hand.

"I almost did, and then where would I be, I'd be alone again Luke and I don't want to be without you, I was alone for all my life except for Rory but now I have you and I'm never going to take that for granted again" she said wiping her eyes with a tissue she was holding and placed a few very soft kisses on Luke's face down from a bruise to a cut on his cheek to his lips. He closed his eyes and slowly fell back to sleep, keeping her hand entwined in his as he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

**19 hours later…**

Lorelai had stayed at Luke's beside the whole time, Rory had stayed for a while but then Lorelai had convinced her to go back to Yale and that she would be fine. Although Rory knew her mom hadn't been eating so she went out and bough a lot of stuff and set it in a box beside the bed so that Lorelai could have some whenever she wanted… Rory knew it was serious when Lorelai hadn't drunk any coffee in nearly 24 hours or even wanted to.

Luke had been in a deep sleep because of all the medication he had been on the past few days so Lorelai hadn't spoken to him since the day before. She had done a lot of thinking while he had been asleep, she was overcome with emotion over the accident and the possibility that she could have lost Luke. After all they had been through since they had gotten together it was hard to imagine him not being around, the idea of him not being there, her not waking up to him or teasing him mercilessly… the idea that he wouldn't be the guy across the counter serving her coffee every morning and kissing her goodnight scared her to death.

Luke woke a while later, he was starving and hadn't eaten in days. Luckily Rory had packed some things in the box for Luke as well which Lorelai had been keeping cold by keeping it in the cooler she had bribed the nurse to get her. She took a yogurt out of the box and opened it to give him, obviously he couldn't actually feed himself so she slowly started to feed small spoonfuls of the strawberry yogurt into his mouth. She smiled at him as she started making airplane noises, remembering how much it had annoyed him when she did it with Davie.

"You still torment me in a hospital bed" he said grinning between spoonfuls. He had gathered some strength that he could sit up a bit and talk… not a lot but then again Luke wasn't really known for his long conversations anyway.

"Aww you know you love it really" she teased as she wiped a bit of yogurt off his bottom lip keeping her hand there for a second as she looked at him thinking how lucky she was to have him here. He could tell what she was thinking from the look on the face and kissed her fingers that were still gently brushing his lips, she smiled down at him before continuing to feed him the yogurt.

* * *

A week later Lorelai brought Luke home from hospital, he was so glad to be out of there finally, he had hated staying there for so long, actually for Luke anytime whatsoever in a hospital was too long a visit for him. It brought back too many bad memories about his parents that he rather not think about. Luke wasn't fit to go back to his place alone, neither did he want to and of course Lorelai would never have let him. Lorelai helped him upstairs in his cast and crutch, she had already fixed plenty of pillows for him as well as bringing the old television down from the attic to put in her room as well as renting some baseball videos and a few of his favourite movies. 

"Wow you really went all out here" Luke said as he looked around him and saw all she had done to prepare for him coming home. It was doing these little things like getting all his favourite movies and placing a small bowls of carrot, yogurt and salad on a table beside the bed as well as a selection of herbal tea's, she hadn't been sure which was his favourite so she had bought them all for him so he could have some variety… it was these things that confirmed to him how much she loved him and how much he really needed her in his life.

That night Luke had fallen asleep early, Lorelai wasn't sure about the sleeping arrangements because he was hurt and she didn't want to roll over on his arm or leg and make them even worse so she set up a sleeping bag on the floor so that if he did need something during the night she would be there. Luke woke up in the middle of the night, reaching his good arm over to Lorelai's side of the bed, not feeling anything he opened his eyes to see she wasn't lying there. He waited a few minutes in case she had gone to the toilet but when he couldn't hear anything he moved to get up, wincing at the pain.

"Luke?" a half asleep Lorelai said as she opened her eyes.

"Jesus Christ" Luke said loudly when he saw her head pop up from the side of the bed.

"Wow I mean I know the morning look isn't my best but jeez"

"Why are you on the floor?"

"You're hurt, I could roll over and like kill your leg or arm, it's safer down here"

"You're not going to kill my arm or leg" he said rolling his eyes.

"I might" she said indignantly.

"I've been stuck in a single hospital bed for the past week, I want you beside me"

"Are you sure?" she asked seriously, concerned that she might hurt.

"Positive, now get up here crazy lady" he grinned as she smiled, standing up she got into bed beside him, luckily his good arm was on her side which he wrapped around her and she snuggled into him.

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The next six weeks were hard for both Lorelai and Luke. Lorelai worked as little as she could manage at the Inn although surprising Michel was helping out a lot without whining half as much as he usually did. Cesar and Lane were both working like crazy in the diner because Luke couldn't, although Lorelai had been in everyday to check everything was running smoothly, even working a few shifts when Lane's band had a gig. Luke had been stuck at home, he hated feeling so useless just sitting around doing nothing and feeling like a burden… although Lorelai had been great. The whole time during this whole _'healing time_' as she called it she had been nothing but patient and generous making sure he had everything he needed, helping out at the diner, calling home to check up on him and calling him throughout the day to stop him from getting lonely… he would have been lost without her. 

"Of course I'm going to wait, I have to say goodbye to Mr Plaster" she said as she rubbed Luke's cast while they were in the hospital. He couldn't wait to finally have it off, he had got the arm cast off the week before and his arm still felt so much lighter after not having to drag an arm around on him. Lorelai had signed both his arm and leg cast more than 10 times each, she was careful to sign them both equally so that neither of them would feel left out… he just let her do it, he had gotten used to her weird ways. Plus the days she was working it was kinda nice to look down at his arm or leg and see 'I love you' written on them or a funny message or song she had made up… even when she wasn't around she could always manage to put as smile on his face. He just hoped that since he was now almost recovered it didn't mean he had to go back to his apartment, he didn't want to go back there now. Not after he knew how great it was to wake up everyday with Lorelai next to him and it feel totally natural, he didn't want to just go back to just sleepovers at her place or his… he wanted more than that.

Lorelai waited outside while Luke got the plaster taken off, she was excited that he was getting it off because she knew how frustrated he had been with being so dependent and not being able to do everything for himself. She had planned a dinner for him when they got back, well Sookie was cooking and she had blown up some balloons and hid them in Rory's room, Sookie was going to put them out before they got back.

Luke and Lorelai got out of her truck, Luke limping a bit but not as much as she thought he would be, he was just glad to be finally getting back to normal… he just hoped the diner was still going okay. He had only been twice in the whole time he was out of commission and that was for 10 minute visits at a time. They walked into the house, smelling the waft of food as they walked in the door. Lorelai lead Luke into the kitchen where Sookie was standing putting their food onto plates and the balloons were tied up to each of their chairs with a candle in the middle of the table.

"Food's ready, enjoy and I'll talk to you later. Great to see you back to normal Luke" Sookie said as she smiled and left knowing that they needed their alone space for what Lorelai had planned.

"Wow" was all Luke could say.

"I just thought we should celebrate a bit today" Lorelai smiled at him, feeling slightly nervous all of a sudden.

"You are amazing" was all he could get out as he leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly as he tried to deepen the connection.

"Okay hon, food first, we may need out appetites later" Lorelai said pulling back slightly after a few seconds, smiling as she kissed him softly before sitting down at the table before he sat down opposite her.

**20 minutes later…**

Lorelai couldn't concentrate anymore on her food, Sookie had done an amazing job as usual but she needed to do this or she knew she would never have the guts to.

"Luke" she said quieter than her usual tone, he looked over at her.

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you right?" she said.

"I do know that, not that I mind hearing it again" he grinned before giving her a questioning look, wondering where the conversation was heading.

"And when you had the accident and I got the phone call to say you were in the hospital I freaked, I mean I was so scared" she said quietly as she looked down at her plate, looking up into his eyes every few seconds.

"Hey I'm fine remember" he said softly as he reached over and rubbed her hand.

"I know you are… wow this isn't coming out right"

"Is everything okay?" Luke said starting to get concerned about what was going on with her, she was being very serious all of a sudden which wasn't always a good sign.

"Yes… no… I don't know. This past six weeks you've been living here with me have been really great, I mean not you being hurt… that sucked but I love waking up here with you and being able to come home and you to be here. It's the first time in my life I've ever felt this way" she said squeezing his hand and he grinned back at her.

"I feel the same way, I don't want to go back to my apartment"

"I don't want you to either" she said glad that at least they agreed on that.

"So are you asking me to move in with you?" Luke asked in a hopeful voice. This is what he had been waiting all through dinner to talk to her about and he was so glad she had brought it up too and it wasn't just him that felt this way.

"No I'm not asking you to move in with me" Lorelai said quietly, Luke looked at her with a confused look on his face as to what she actually meant because he was confused, didn't she want him to stay here?

"You're not?" he said in a disappointed tone.

"No I'm not" Lorelai said getting up from her seat, not letting her eyes leave his as he followed her, still not getting what she was doing. She kneeled down in front of him, he still didn't get it as he looked down at her.

Lorelai looked up from her hands into his eyes, getting lost for a second in the deep pools of blue looking down at her. She took a deep breath before asking the most important question of life, "Luke will you marry me?"

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_Okay put the pitchforks away... lol don't worry I won't wait so long to update the next chapter! Anyway review and let me know what you think!_

_**Check out my new Lauren Graham & Scott Patterson at **__**http:back-to-reality. or **__**More info on it in my profile :)**_


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